Russian media sources reported today that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled with 4 cars and a helicopter loaded with money, while military planes carrying more than 100 Afghan soldiers landed in Tajikistan.

The Russian Information Agency quoted the Moscow embassy in Kabul as saying that Ghani had to leave some money because he could not find a place to take it.

The Russian agency quoted embassy spokesman in Kabul Nikita Ishchenko as saying that "4 cars loaded with money, they tried to put another part of the money in a helicopter, but the space did not accommodate all the money. Some money was left lying on the runway."

The spokesman confirmed to Reuters that "witnesses" were the source of his information.

Reuters could not independently verify his account.

His location is not known

Ghani - whose current location is not known - said that he left Afghanistan yesterday before the Taliban entered Kabul without resistance, stressing that he did so in order to save blood.

Russia has said that it will maintain a diplomatic presence in Kabul and hopes to develop relations with the Taliban, although it has stressed that it will not rush to recognize the movement, and will closely monitor its behavior.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's representative for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, had said earlier that it was not clear how much money the fugitive government had left behind.

The Tajik Foreign Ministry said in a statement today that the plane that carried Ghani did not enter the airspace of Tajikistan and did not land on its territory.

The ministry indicated that the Tajik side had not received a request in this regard from Afghanistan.

02-1109, a C-17A of #USAF carrying almost 800 Afghan refugees on board left #Kabul, #Afghanistan almost 2 hours ago while a crowd of civilians were on the runway of the airport!

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— Babak Taghvaee - Μπάπακ Τακβαίε - Babak Taghvaee (@BabakTaghvaee) August 16, 2021

Soldiers fleeing

In the same context, the Russian Information Agency quoted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan as saying today that military planes carrying more than 100 Afghan soldiers in total landed at an airport in the city of Bukhtar in Tajikistan.

The ministry added that the Tajik authorities allowed the planes to enter the country's airspace and land after receiving distress calls issued by it.

plane crash

For his part, a spokesman for the Uzbek Ministry of Defense said today that an Afghan military plane crashed yesterday evening in Uzbekistan, on the border with Afghanistan.

"The military plane illegally crossed the border into Uzbekistan. An investigation has been opened" into the accident, spokesman Bakhrom Zulfikarov said, confirming information reported by Uzbek media about the plane crash the day before in Surkhondario province (south), bordering Afghanistan.

Sources say 18 passenger flights from Kabul landed in Tajikistan and 28 landed in Termez city in Uzbekistan on Sunday evening.

Most of the passengers were airport employees, sources said.

These passengers were welcomed in Tajikistan by Afghan ambassador Zahir Aghbar.

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— TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) August 16, 2021

Bekbulat Okpoev, a doctor at Surkhondario District Hospital, said two injured people dressed in Afghan Armed Forces uniforms were taken to hospital on Sunday evening.

He pointed out that one of them threw himself "with an umbrella", adding that both of them suffered from fractures.

It is noteworthy that elements of the Afghan forces are constantly trying to flee to the neighboring Central Asian countries, since the Taliban launched their attack with the start of the withdrawal of US and NATO forces from the country in May.

On Sunday, Uzbek forces arrested 84 Afghan soldiers who tried to flee to Uzbekistan to escape the lightning attack of the Taliban.