Ghani is in the UAE

After days of speculation about the whereabouts of President Ashraf Ghani, who fled Afghanistan last weekend as the Taliban surrounded Kabul, the United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday that he had taken refuge in the Gulf nation. Ghani has come under withering criticism for his performance during his tenure as Afghanistan’s leader and the ignominious way in which he fled, speeding the government’s collapse.

The UAE said it is hosting Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani and his family. “The UAE has welcomed President Ashraf Ghani and his family into the country on humanitarian grounds,” the UAE foreign ministry said in a statement.