New Delhi: In a now-deleted tweet, the Afghan embassy in India berated former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani who fled to neighbouring Tajikistan Sunday night, after the insurgent group Taliban entered the Afghan capital of Kabul and effectively took over the country.
The embassy’s tweet read: “We are all banging our heads in shame. Ghani Baba @ashrafghani fled with his crooks. He screwed and f***ed everything up. We apologize to everyone for serving the fugitive. May Allah punish the traitor! His legacy will be a stain on our history.”
The embassy also tagged the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen and Afghanistan’s Presidential Office in the tweet. The tweet was shared over 700 times before being deleted.
About 15 hours later, Abdulhaq Azad, press secretary to the Afghan Embassy in India, said the embassy’s official Twitter handle was hacked.
“I have lost access to Twitter handle of @AfghanistanInIN, a friend sent screen shot of this tweet, (this tweet is hidden from me.) I have tried to log in but can’t access. Seems it is hacked,” he said.
I have lost access to Twitter handle of @AfghanistanInIN, a friend sent screen shot of this tweet, (this tweet is hidden from me.) I have tried to log in but can’t access. Seems it is hacked. @FMamundzay @FFazly @hmohib pic.twitter.com/kcdlGMpCZ7
— Abdulhaq Azad (@AbdulhaqA) August 16, 2021
Also read: Gun-toting civilians, hotels on lockdown, angry cops — fear & chaos in Kabul as leaders flee
Blaming Ghani
The Taliban in the past week quickly advanced across the country, taking over major cities and provinces, leading to an unprecedented collapse of the Afghan government led by President Ashraf Ghani.
After Ghani’s departure, Abdullah Abdullah, the head of the Afghan National Reconciliation Council, was quoted in a report by Al Jazeera as saying: “The former president of Afghanistan left Afghanistan, leaving the country in this difficult situation…God should hold him accountable.”
On Monday morning, the US announced it will expand its security presence at Kabul airport for the evacuation of US-allied personnel as well as Afghan civilians. Videos emerged Monday morning of people rushing to Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul and running on the tarmac as planes were taking off and landing.
It is chaos at Kabul airport. Planes are taking off and landing and people are running across the runway. pic.twitter.com/kKrg667AQB
— Sowaibah Hanifie (@SowaibahH) August 16, 2021
According to NBC News chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel, the Taliban have set up many checkpoints in and around the airport and are reportedly “taking potshots” at aircraft.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)
Also read: 3 fates await Afghanistan as US breaks it for 3rd time in 40 yrs. Afghans have say in none
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