Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani has taken refuge in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Ghani left Afghanistan as the Taliban advanced on the capital city, Kabul, over the weekend.
The UAE’s foreign ministry said the country has welcomed Ghani and his family on humanitarian grounds.
In a video address later on Wednesday, Ghani denied fleeing and said he had left to prevent what he described as a “huge disaster”, reported the BBC.
“For now, I am in the Emirates so that bloodshed and chaos is stopped,” he said, “I am currently in talks to return to Afghanistan.”
Ghani also said rumours that he had travelled to the UAE with a large amount of money were “completely baseless” and “lies”.
The Russian embassy in Kabul alleged on Monday that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had fled the country with four cars and a helicopter full of cash and had to leave some money behind as not all of it would fit in, Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
Meanwhile, United States (US) President Joe Biden blamed the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan on Afghan political leaders who fled the country and the unwillingness of the US-trained Afghan army to fight the militant group.
In his speech, Biden said that the US troops could not defend a nation whose leaders “gave up and fled”, as did Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
