Ariana: John Sopko, the U.S. special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction (SIGAR), said on Wednesday his office would look into allegations that former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani took millions of dollars with him when he left the country. Ghani fled the country on August 15 and reportedly took with him bags stuffed with cash. Ghani
Reuters: The confidential, two-page brief, written early this month by senior international economic officials for institutions including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, said the country’s severe cash shortage began before the Taliban took control of Kabul. Click here to read more (external link). Other Economic News The Future Looks Bleak for Women Entrepreneurs
The American Prospect: Ghani, during his nearly seven years in power, found ways to enrich his brother, his brother-in-law, and other members of his inner circle. Click here to read more (external link).
Statement 8 September 2021 pic.twitter.com/5yKXWIdLfM — Ashraf Ghani (@ashrafghani) September 8, 2021 Related Ashraf Ghani: The US-backed Afghan ‘technocrat’ who seemed doomed to fail
America spent more than $2.2 trillion on the war in Afghanistan. Most of this money went back to the US via private contractors and companies. Top US arms dealers got $2 trillion in public funds between 2001 & 2021. WION’s Palki Sharma exposes the truth of the Afghan war.
Ariana: Committee have called for exiled president Ashraf Ghani to face criminal charges if he indeed fled the country with duffel bags full of money. Reports last week emerged that Ghani fled Kabul for the UAE just hours before the Taliban take over and took with him $169 million in cash. Click here to read
New York Post: The Ghani family likes to live in style. Just a week after Ashraf Ghani cowardly abandoned his country for the luxury confines of Dubai (reportedly with $169 million in cash shoved in a helicopter), it turns out both of his kids live in luxury while women in their homeland live in terror
The News: Former US President Donald Trump has called Afghanistan’s former President Ashraf Ghani “a total crook,” adding, “He got away with murder.” Trump also said that he suspected that Ghani fled with cash when he secretly left Afghanistan last Sunday. Trump’s suspicion was based on Ghani’s “lifestyle”, “his houses” and “where he lives,” Trump
Reuters: Russia’s embassy in Kabul said on Monday that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had fled the country with four cars and a helicopter full of cash and had to leave some money behind as it would not all fit in, the RIA news agency reported. Click here to read more (external link).
Washington Post: The 43-year-old Kabul native departs under a cloud, indicted in Kabul alongside two other Afghan officials on embezzlement charges – which she has denied and attempted to refute – that she says have more to do with gender and her country’s highly personalized and insular politics than any wrongdoing. Click here to read