Ashraf Ghani fled Afghanistan with 'big bags' of money, gun: Ex-bodyguard details escape

As the Taliban overran Kabul, President Ashraf Ghani fled Afghanistan with 'big bags' of money. Along with the money, Ghani also had a gun to 'kill himself' in case the Taliban stormed in before he could leave, his ex-bodyguard has claimed. In an interview with Britain's Daily Mail, Gen. Parviz Sharifi, the special guard of the fugitive President has made startling revelations, sharing the final minutes of Ghani's evacuation. 

General Sharif, who is currently underground claimed that he was waiting for the President at the Defence Ministry on August 15 but he got a call to say that instead of coming to the ministry, the President had gone to the airport. "The Defence Minister had also fled. So had my boss. So had all of Ghani's close family and entourage," he revealed adding that the President had never told them that he was planning to flee. 

The bodyguard verified claims of several international media reports which had stated that President Ghani fled with a helicopter full of cash. He told DailyMail, "I have a [CCTV] recording [from the palace] which shows that an individual at the Afghan Bank brought a lot of money to Ghani before he left."

"This money was supposed to be for the currency exchange market. Each Thursday, the dollars were brought for that purpose. Instead, it was taken by the president. Ghani knew in the end what would happen. So he took all the money and escaped," he added.

The General, who now has a price on his head and wanted posters across the war-torn nation stated that he has been forced to move underground after Ghani left the nation in the hands of the Taliban. Sharif stated that he felt 'betrayed' over being left behind by those whom he protected. "If the Taliban come here, I will kill myself. If they capture me they will kill me anyway," he told DailyMail. 

After surrendering Kabul to the Taliban, serving President Ashraf Ghani along with his aides fled Afghanistan on August 15. In his first statement after leaving the nation, Ashraf Ghani defended his action, saying that he had no other choice. Penning the post from Tajikistan on Facebook, the 72-year-old wrote, “The Taliban had made it to a point remove me, they are here to attack all Kabul and the people of Kabul. In order to avoid the bleeding flood, I thought it was best to get out."