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| - Fact Check: Picture of Ashraf Ghani's Bagram visit shared as ex-Afghan Prez fleeing Taliban
A picture of former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani staring through the window of an aircraft is circulating with the claim that it shows the former Afghan leader fleeing on his own, leaving his countrymen at the mercy of Taliban.
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India Today Fact Check
The picture was taken during Ghani's July 2021 visit to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan when he was still in power.
Former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has faced much flak from his countrymen and the international community for fleeing in the face of Taliban advance without a fight.
On social media, a picture of Ghani staring through the window of an aircraft is circulating with the claim that it shows the former Afghan leader fleeing on his own, leaving his countrymen at the mercy of Taliban.
"This is the Afghan president fleeing his country. Do you notice that there are no multitudes of Afghans in the plane with him? They've been left behind to face their fate. America only evacuated their embassy staff. No Afghans," reads the claim along with the picture.
The archived version of the post can be seen here.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the picture was taken in July 2021 when Ghani was still the President of Afghanistan. He was visiting the Bagram Air Base at the time.
AFWA probe
Reverse-searching the viral picture, we found it was posted on the official Facebook page of the Afghan President's office on July 9, 2021. As revealed by the Persian caption, the picture is related to Ghani's visit to Bagram Airfield after the exit of international forces.
Bagram used to be the largest United States military base in Afghanistan and the Americans vacated the place after 20 years.
Spanish publication "ABC" had also carried the viral image in one of its recent reports. The caption translates to, "Ashraf Ghani during a visit to Bagram base in July, following the departure of US troops."
Ghani (72) fled Afghanistan on August 15 as the Taliban were knocking on the gates of Kabul. He has taken refuge in UAE, as confirmed by the latter's foreign ministry. The Taliban took over Afghanistan the same day Ghani fled.
However, the viral picture does not show the former Afghan President's escape. The claim was debunked by AFP as well.
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