Chief of Afghan Central Bank blames Ashraf Ghani for chaos, flees Kabul

The head of Afghanistan's central bank has fled Kabul, questioned the loyalty of Afghan security forces and blamed President Ashraf Ghani and his inexperienced advisors for the country's swift and chaotic fall to the Taliban. In a Twitter thread detailing how he worked at the bank until militants were at the gates of the city, Acting Governor Ajmal Ahmady also said that U.S. dollar supplies were dwindling and described escaping the capital on a military flight.

“On Sunday I began work. Reports throughout morning were increasingly worrisome. I left the bank and left deputies in charge. Felt terrible about leaving staff,” he said. “It did not have to end this way. I am disgusted by the lack of any planning by Afghan leadership. Saw at airport them leave without informing others.” "Seems difficult to believe, but there remains a suspicion as to why (Afghan National Security Forces) left posts so quickly," Ahmady said, referring to claims by some pro-government militia leaders of that the army's capitulation in northern Afghanistan was the result of a conspiracy.He was appointed acting governor of Afghanistan's central bank just over a year ago, having previously worked at the US Treasury, the World Bank and in private equity, according to a short biography posted on a government website.

As the Taliban advanced, Ahmady said Afghanistan's currency markets were in a panic, especially after the central bank on Friday was told it would not receive any more dollars, driving the price of Afghanistan's currency, the Afghani, sharply lower."I held meetings on Saturday to reassure banks and money exchanges to calm them down. I can't believe that was one day before Kabul fell," Ahmady said. He said the currency dropped as far as 100 to the dollar, a fall of about 23%, before stabilising at 86. Ahmady said he boarded a military aircraft amid chaos on the tarmac after a commercial flight he booked was swamped with passengers. It was unclear which military plane he boarded and he did not mention his destination.