UAE says hosting Ashraf Ghani, his family ‘on humanitarian grounds’

DUBAI – The United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday that it had “welcomed President Ashraf Ghani and his family into the country on humanitarian grounds”.

It remained unclear whether Ghani flew directly to the UAE or was at another location since he left Kabul on Sunday, just as the Taliban approached Kabul.

The statement carried by the UAE’s state-run WAM news agency on Wednesday did not say where Ghani was in the country.

It quoted the country’s Foreign Ministry in a one-sentence statement.

At the time of fleeing the country on Sunday, Ghani had said he was leaving to “prevent a flood of bloodshed”, as the Taliban entered the capital, capping a lightning offensive across the country.

Ghani had said he believed “countless patriots would be martyred and the city of Kabul would be destroyed” if he had stayed behind.

“The Taliban have won […] and are now responsible for the honour, property and self-preservation of their countrymen,” he said in a statement posted to Facebook.

“They are now facing a new historical test. Either they will preserve the name and honour of Afghanistan or they will give priority to other places and networks,” he had added.

Initially he did not say where he had travelled to, but leading Afghan media group Tolo News suggested he had gone to Tajikistan.