Ashraf Ghani promised to 'fight to death' but fled Afghanistan: Antony Blinken

On Sunday, October 31, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed that former Afghan President pledged to fight and show resistance till death but fled Kabul as soon as the Taliban took over the capital city on August 15, reported Pakistan newspaper Dawn. In a recent interview to "CBS Face The Nation" talk-show, Blinken said that on the night of August 14, he was on the phone with Ghani, requesting with him to accept a plan to hand over control to a new administration in Kabul, which would have been headed by the Taliban but would have "encompassed all sections of Afghan society."  "Ghani told me that he was prepared to do that but if the Taliban wouldn't go along, he was ready to fight till death," Blinken said adding that the former Afghan President fled the country very next day.

Secretary Blinken further stated that he was engaged with President Ghani over many weeks and many months, as reported by the outlet. When asked if he did everything he could, the senior US ambassador said the State Department was analyzing everything the US did, starting from 2020 when the Trump administration reached a deal with the Taliban to pull American troops out of Afghanistan.

Blinken said President Biden concluded the longest war in America's history

He said the evaluation would encompass "steps we took during our administration because we have to take every possible lesson from the last few years as well as the previous 20 years." Blinken further said that President Biden concluded the longest war in America's history to assure that another generation of Americans would not have to fight and die in Afghanistan. 

It should be mentioned here that in the month of September, the United States Special envoy for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad stated that Ghani's escape from Afghanistan ruined a last-minute deal with the Taliban. In an interview with the Financial Times, Khalilzad revealed that Ghani was supposed to remain as the President of Afghanistan until there was a political settlement in Qatar, even as the insurgent group stood at Kabul's doors. In addition, he also stated that the plan was to keep Kabul out of the Taliban's hands and negotiate a political transition. However, Ghani's escape triggered a power vacuum and the Taliban entered the city, the news daily quoted Khalilzad. 

(Image: AP)