Former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani’s Brother Joins Taliban, Announces Support For Group: Reports

Earlier Ashraf Ghani, who left Kabul on Sunday as Taliban surrounded the Afghanistan capital, said that he was in talks to return to the country.

Ashraf Ghani (File Photo)

New Delhi: According to media reports, Former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani’s brother Hashmat Ghani Ahmadzai has joined the Taliban and announced his support for the group.

This comes after Ashraf Ghani, who has taken refuge in the UAE, was reported to be in talks to return to Afghanistan as he denied the allegation that he left Kabul with suitcases full of cash.

The fresh reports on Saturday state that Hashmat Ghani Ahmadzai, chief of the Grand Council of Kuchis, announced his support for the Taliban in the presence of leader Khalil-ur-Rehman and religious scholar Mufti Mahmood Zakir.

A purported video of the meeting has also surfaced on social media. 

Earlier Ghani, who left Kabul on Sunday as Taliban surrounded the Afghanistan capital, said that he was in talks to return to the country. He also said the allegations that he escaped with suitcases of cash were "completely baseless", saying it was all "political and personality assassination", Al Jazeera reported.

Following Ghani's exit, Russian Embassy in Kabul had on Monday claimed that Ghani left Kabul with four cars and a helicopter stuffed with cash.

"As for the collapse of the regime, it is most eloquently characterised by the way Ghani fled from Afghanistan: four cars were full of money, they tried to put part of the money into a helicopter, but everything did not fit. And some of the money was left on the runway", Sputnik had quoted Russian diplomatic mission spokesperson Nikita Ishenko as saying.

Responding to the claims, Ghani added, "I was forced to leave Afghanistan with one set of traditional clothes, a vest, and the sandals I was wearing," New York Post reported.

In a video posted on Facebook on Wednesday, Ghani contended that he had to leave the country to avoid bloodshed and backed the recent talks between the terror group and former Afghan president Hamid Karzai to stabilise the country.

Meanwhile, the Taliban say they are working to unveil a new governing framework for Afghanistan in the next few weeks. "Legal, religious and foreign policy experts in the Taliban aim to present the new governing framework in the next few weeks," a spokesperson for the Islamist movement told Reuters on Saturday.