Former Afghanistan president Ashraf Ghani on Monday said that his Facebook account was hacked after a call for Taliban’s recognition was reportedly made from his page. The Facebook post from Ghani’s account also urged the international community to help the movement of the Sunni Pashtun group and unfreeze Afghan assets, according to news agencies.
The former Afghan president, who fled Kabul on August 15, wrote on Twitter that his official Facebook page has been hacked since yesterday and any content published afterwards are invalid until the account is retrieved.
“The official Facebook page of Dr. Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has been hacked. Until it is retrieved, the content published from yesterday onwards on the Facebook page is no longer valid,” Ghani tweeted in Pashto.
The Facebook post has since been deleted and the content couldn’t be verified independently.
Ghani fled to the United Arab Emirates after the Taliban laid siege on Kabul last month. While the Islamist fundamentalists are not seeking Ghani’s extradition, the group has accused the former president of taking four cars and a chopper full of cash amount of money along with him, demanding that he returns it back to the Taliban government. Ghani has categorically denied the allegations.
In a statement released on September 8, Ghani said he and his wife have been “scrupulous” in their personal finances and have declared all the assets. He further stated that his wife’s family inheritance has also been disclosed and remains listed in her home country of Lebanon.
“I welcome an official audit or financial investigation under UN auspices or any other appropriate independent body to prove the veracity of my statements here. My close aides are ready to submit their finances to public audit, and I would encourage and urge other former senior officials and political figures to do the same,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, the Taliban has been awaiting recognition from the West and other countries in the region. But the international community is following wait-and-watch policy and monitoring the actions of Islamic hardliners vis-a-vis human rights, especially women and girls.
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