Afghanistan’s former president has defended his decision to flee the country as the Taliban closed in earlier this year, saying he did it to prevent the destruction of Kabul. The Taliban seized power in August after taking control of the capital. Ashraf Ghani revealed that when he woke up on 15 August he had “no inkling” it would be his last day in Afghanistan. It was only when his plane left Kabul that he realised he was going, Mr Ghani said on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. He was heavily criticised and accused of abandoning the country at the time. He is now in the United Arab Emirates. Mr Ghani made the comments in conversation with Gen Sir Nick Carter, the UK’s former Chief of the Defence Staff, who was guest-editing the Today programme on Thursday.(BBC)…[+]