Ghani embezzled money, buried by history, says Afghan envoy to Tajikistan Agbar

The Afghanistan Ambassador to Tajikistan Muhammad Zahir Agbar has slammed Afghanistan's Ashraf Ghani and blamed him for the "situation in Afghanistan" for which the responsibility is in the "hand of Ghani."Ghani was the President of the Afghan Republic that collapsed on 15th August 2021 as he fled the country amid a Taliban takeover.

Speaking to our Diplomatic Correspondent Sidhant Sibal, Agbar made a major claim that Ghani was responsible for embezzlement. He said, "Prior to the fall, based on an order given from Ghani himself, all the income from Afghanistan's diplomatic missions were sent to Kabuland unregistered planes started landing in Kabul and started taking things out."

Asked about Ghani's commentthat he is still the president of Afghanistan, Ambassador Agbar explained, "When the king is checkmated, everyone else loses. Ashraf Ghani claimed that I will stand up and resist. Ghani was the first to run away." The Afghan ambassador was joined by his adviser, Mehran Aghbar during the interview.

WION: How do you see the last one year in Afghanistan?
Zahir Agbar: At first, I would like to say 'Hi' to everyone watching. I would like to thank WION news for following up on everything which has been going on in Afghanistan. In the past year, Afghanistan has fallen in the hands of international terrorists. No one can hide this or recognize the Taliban as a political movement. Probably some countries regarding national or economic interest have some sort of relation with the Taliban but Taliban are terrorist and a year ago some provinces of Afghanistan started collapsing to Taliban. Thousands of civilians, human rights activists, authors, journalists started leaving the country. In the past one year, the Taliban has committed crimes in Afghanistan. Today Afghanistan has turned into a jail for everyone living there. No experts in Taliban. Only thing that exists are imams who have specific beliefs and understand religion to themselves. I can say this with confidencethat Afghanistan has turned into a safe hub for international terrorists. This is not only a threat for Afghanistan but a threat to the region and the world.

WION: Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR)Ashraf Ghani fled Afghanistan with millions in cash may be untrue, your view.
Zahir Agbar: For the past 20 years, SIGAR has worked very actively and gathered a lot of reports. I respect the work they have done and as a person who has worked over 40 years of his life serving the country in different sectors, like the military and intelligence, from the reports that our friends and colleagues have, would like to share that. SIGAR did get in contact with us for the first few days, they did not request any interview from me, anything they wanted to document. The reports we have at hand are from inside the country, from patriots and they have shared reports with us. Prior to the fall, based on an order given from Ghani himself, all the income from Afghanistan's diplomatic missions was sent to Kabul. The statements of banks in Afghanistan, that they have $400 million was completely inaccurate, that amount was not available. Days prior to fall, unregistered planes started landing in Kabul and started taking things out. Personnel at the airport were in contact with us, they would report back and tell us that via the VIP route of the airport bags were taken in by Ghani's personnel and personnel from the presidential palace. I want to thank SIGAR for proving that Ghani did take one million dollars from Afghanistan. The Afghan constitution says stealing one Afghani or one million Afghani, both are crimes. The constitution states, handing over geography and military of the country and economy to the enemy is a crime.

WION: Sir, what transpired on 15/16th August 2021?
Zahir Agbar: No one would have believed that the fall of Afghanistan would have been so easy. People did not anticipate, Ghani stated himself that he would stay in the country and die. Within the American leadership, they had different ideas. As a person who is an expert in military education, this fall is something that was planned. During the first resistance by Ahmad Shah Masood and Burhanuddin Rabbani, we had very little equipment against the enemy. The Taliban and their supporters could not take 11 provinces. We had very little access to heavy artillery and helicopters. When they did try to take over northern provinces, they faced heavy casualties that I think history won't forget. At that time, I was the head of the military intelligence of Afghanistan. We had hostages of former fighters. How is it possible now, with army forces of hundreds and thousands of troops, the Taliban can come and take over the country. Even though Ismail Khan resisted against the Taliban in Herat, in a conspired plan, they gave him in. At the time, Mujahideen leaders and political leaders were sent out of Afghanistan for peace talks. In the past 20 years, we were open for peace, had NATO presence in Afghanistan and we had an accord with the US to prevent the fall of Afghanistan once again. We had given up weapons to push for peace. Only province that has not surrendered is Panjshir, which has not raised the Taliban flag. The resistance is still going, resistance will expand not only militarily but also politically via activism. This resistance is not only for Panjshir but also for Afghanistan as a whole, this is for humanity. You have witnessed the killing of Al Zawahari in Kabul, the city has turned into safe haven for international terrorists. These terrorists are from different groups, they are threat for the neighbours, region and for international community. We will continue and fight to resist, with or without the help of the international community.

WION: The resistance looks weak and that it doesn't have international support.
Zahir Agbar: You have every right to claim that resistance is weak, because you are not present in the field. We are at the first resistance; at that time, we were in charge of training and educating the Mujahideen. It is true first resistance was much more different than what it is now, at the first resistance all our Mujahideen were very young, the national hero was not martyred, Burhanuddin Rabbani has international legitimacy, we had the right to print money, we were recognized as legitimate state at the United Nations. Every soldier member, they were standing in resistance. Today another war has been put on the shoulders of the people of Afghanistan, ideology of people is much different today, and today a large majority of the young generation which are resisting are educated members, they are people with high morals, and one year is a short amount of time for resistance. In various parts of the world, Afghans are resisting. In the past, some countries quickly recognized the Taliban as a legitimate state. Right now, no one has given them legitimacy. Today, in Kabul and various parts of the country, people are witnessing the violence by the Taliban. Today there is no change among the Taliban and they are in the hands of foreigners. If the resistance had no power, why was their chopper taken and their hostages still with us. Taliban's soldiers are leaving and, once they closed the door for education, a lot of young people stood up against them. People want education, a relationship with the international community, they want stability, but the Taliban has been holding everything back. People of Afghanistan don't want them to be in the hands of any other country.

WION: Ghani recently has said that he is "technically and legally the president". How do you see the comments, and who do you see responsible for the collapse of the republic?
Zahir Agbar: You probably played chess before. When the king is checkmated, everyone else loses. Ashraf Ghani claimed that I will stand up and resist. Ghani was the first to run away. In this collapse everyone is responsible to their own extent. Ghani was the commander in chief of the army, all the security sectors of the country were run by his people. He is blaming Khalilzad for everything. Why did he not share this with the national council of Afghanistan, with the people of Afghanistan. Khalilzad and Ghani have a lot of stories to share during their time as students, they should not combine stories as students to the future of the country. Today the situation in Afghanistan, the responsibility is in the hand of Ghani. If he wants to go to Kabul or not, he is buried in history. He can play with emotions of the young generation, because of him and his actions thousands of troops were martyred. If the Taliban had soldiers, they were all Afghans. All of them were killed by order of Ghani, the commander. If I was Ghani I would not speak to the media, he still wants to play around with words and trick the people.

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