Russia’s embassy in Kabul said on Monday that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had fled the country with four cars and a helicopter filled with cash and had to go away some money behind because it wouldn’t all slot in, the RIA wire service reported.
Ghani, whose current whereabouts are unknown, said he left Afghanistan on Sunday because the Taliban entered Kabul virtually unopposed. He said he wanted to avoid bloodshed.
Russia has said it’ll retain a diplomatic presence in Kabul and hopes to develop ties with the Taliban when it says it’s no rush to recognise them because the country’s rulers and can closely observe their behaviour.
“As for the collapse of the (outgoing) regime, it’s most eloquently characterised by the way Ghani fled Afghanistan,” Nikita Ishchenko, a spokesman for the Russian embassy in Kabul, was quoted as saying by RIA.
“Four cars were filled with money, they tried to stuff another a part ofthe cash into a helicopter, but not all of it fit. and a few of the cash was left lying on the tarmac,” he was quoted as saying.
Ischenko, the Russian embassy spokesman, confirmed his comments to Reuters. He cited “witnesses” because the source of his information. Reuters couldn’t independently confirm the veracity of his account immediately.
President Vladimir Putin’s special representative on Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said earlier it had been unclear what proportion money the fleeing government would depart behind.
“I hope the govt. that has fled didn’t take all the money from the state budget. it’ll be the bedrock of the budget if something is left,” Kabulov told Moscow’s Ekho Moskvy station.
