Ashraf Ghani fled Afghanistan on August 15 (File)
Former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday apologised to his countrymen - nearly three weeks after fleeing the country as the Taliban seized power with the fall of Kabul on August 15. Reiterating that his "commitment to the Afghan people has never wavered and will guide me for the rest of my life", Mr Ghani apologised that he "could not make it end differently".
"I owe the Afghan people an explanation for leaving Kabul abruptly on August 15 after Taliban unexpectedly enter the city. I left at the urging of the palace security who advised me that to remain risked setting off the same horrific street-to-street fighting the city had suffered during the Civil War of the 1990s," Mr Ghani said in the statement that he shared on Twitter.
"Leaving Kabul was the most difficult decision of my life, but I believed it was the only way to keep the guns silent and save Kabul and her 6 million citizens," he said.
"I offer my profound appreciation and respect for the sacrifice of all Afghans, especially our Afghan soldiers and their families, through the last 40 years. It is with deep and profound regret that my own chapter ended in similar tragedy to my predecessors - without ensuring stability and prosperity," he concluded.
This is his second apology since he fled the war-torn country. Days after the Taliban took control of Kabul, Ghani made his first appearance where he reiterated that he had left in order to spare the country more bloodshed.
The former Afghan President fled the war-torn country on August 15 amid the Taliban's stunning sweep to power. Following this as Kabul fell, thousands thronged the airport in a desperate attempt to escape another regime under the Taliban.
The crisis in Afghanistan led to an unprecedented exodus of people fleeing their homes with many clinging onto US aircraft as they took off and falling to their deaths from the sky.