ABU DHABI: The United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday (Aug 18) that it is hosting ousted Afghan president Ashraf Ghani “on humanitarian grounds”, after he fled his country amid the Taliban’s takeover.
Ghani’s whereabouts had been unknown after he fled Afghanistan at the weekend in the face of a sweeping advance by the Taliban.
“The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation can confirm that the UAE has welcomed President Ashraf Ghani and his family into the country on humanitarian grounds,” the ministry said in a brief statement.
Ghani left Afghanistan last Sunday as the Taliban closed in on Kabul, before the insurgents walked into the capital unopposed.
In a Facebook post, Ghani said the “Taliban have won” and that he fled to avoid a “flood of bloodshed”.
Until Wednesday, unconfirmed reports said that the 72-year-old had fled to Oman, Tajikistan or Uzbekistan. Some even speculated that he had escaped to Lebanon, where his wife hails from.
The Taliban capped a staggeringly fast rout of Afghanistan’s major cities in just 10 days, achieved with relatively little bloodshed, following two decades of war that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
The collapse came as United States President Joe Biden moved to complete the withdrawal of US troops from the country.
Biden admitted on Monday that the Taliban advance had unfolded quicker than expected, but defended his decision to leave, and criticised Ghani’s government.
Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser, on Tuesday declined to answer questions about Ghani, who he said “is no longer a factor in Afghanistan”.
The United States, however, has continued to refer to “President Ghani”, with the State Department saying that there has not been a formal handover of power.
US-led forces invaded the country following the September 11 attacks in 2001, in response to the Taliban giving sanctuary to Al-Qaeda, and toppled them.
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