The former minister of interior affairs for Afghanistan was reportedly seen fleeing the country with refugees, Richard Engel, a chief foreign correspondent for NBC News, said Monday.
“Some Afghan officials from fallen govt escaping with refugees. A senior Qatari official told me among those they’ve identified are former interior minister Gen. Abdul Satar Mirzakwal, one of his deputies and a sr army official,” Engel tweeted.
Gen. Abdul Sattar Mirzakwal, appointed to the position in late June, faced criticism from lawmakers for his failure to reform the ministry or combat the Taliban in their attempt to take control of the country.
Mirzakwal provided updates on the fight against the Taliban in the days leading up to the fall of Kabul. (RELATED: Taliban Says Biden’s Potential Extension For Withdrawal Won’t Happen)
Some Afghan officials from fallen govt escaping with refugees. A senior Qatari official told me among those they’ve identified are former interior minister Gen. Abdul Satar Mirzakwal, one of his deputies and a sr army official.
— Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) August 23, 2021
“We are working in three phases. The first is to stop the defeats [of the government forces], the second is to re-gather our forces to create security rings around the cities,” he told Al Jazeera on Aug. 11. “All those soldiers that abandoned their posts, we’re bringing them back to their posts. The third is to begin offensive operations. At the moment, we’re moving into the second phase.”
Former President Ashraf Ghani also fled the country as the Taliban surrounded Kabul, crossing the border into Tajikistan with a number of advisors.
The Afghan Embassy in Tajikistan requested that Interpol arrest Ghani for allegedly stealing public funds on Wednesday. Later, the foreign affairs ministry of the United Arab Emirates confirmed Ghani’s presence in the country.
Ghani said he left because “countless of my countrymen would be martyred and Kabul would face destruction” if he had stayed.
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