Ashraf Ghani, the former president of Afghanistan who fled the country on Sunday, in a message on Wednesday evening said that he was forced to leave in order to prevent a “huge plot” and “disaster” in which the “the historical enemies of Afghanistan” were involved.
Ashraf Ghani, who took refuge in the UAE, said in a video message posted on Facebook that he went to the Ministry of Defense's headquarters in Kabul on Sunday to investigate the security situation, but his security team pulled him out to prevent the “huge plot.”
Ghani in the message mentioned that despite the Taliban promise to not enter Kabul, members of the Taliban had surrounded the Presidential Palace on Sunday and Afghan security officials had lost control.
However, the Taliban has not yet commented on any plans to attack the Presidential Palace.
Ashraf Ghani, his national security advisor Hamdullah Mohib, Fazal Mahmood Fazli, the head of the administrative office of the president, and about 50 other officials left the country on Sunday along with Ghani's security team.
Reacting to allegations that he had allegedly taken large sums of money with him when he left, Ghani said he had not taken any money with him and had not even been able to change his shoes or take personal documents or his computer.
He said he had to leave his personal laptop behind and now "the government's secret documents" are in "the hands of others."
Former Interior Ministry officials denied Ghani's account, saying he had asked for his diplomatic passport from the Foreign Ministry a few days before fleeing the country.
Social media users started a hashtag trend, calling on Interpol to arrest Ghani.
The ambassador for the former Afghan government in Tajikistan, Zahir Aghbar, removed Ghani’s portrait from his office and asked Interpol to arrest Ghani.
Amrullah Saleh said in a tweet on Tuesday that in the absence, resignation, escape or death of the president, he is "the legitimate caretaker president of Afghanistan" according to the country's constitution.
The location of the former second vice president Sarwar Danesh is not clear. But Ghani's first vice president Saleh has said he is in Afghanistan.