Former Afghan president's brother pledges allegiance to Taliban

The brother of former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Hashmat Ghani Ahmadzai has pledged his loyalty to the Taliban, according to local reports.

Ahmadzai pledged his allegiance to the militant group with Taliban leader Khalil-ur-Rehman Haqqani and religious scholar Mufti Mahmood Zakir in attendance, a tweet by Islamabad based journalist Tahir Khan said on Saturday. 

The journalist also posted a video showing the men together, which he said was released by Zakir. 

Ghani fled the country on Sunday, as the Taliban closed in on the capital city of Kabul. 

After fleeing Afghanistan and arriving in the UAE, he released a video saying that he left the country to "avoid bloodshed", but routed claims that he left with vast sums of money. 

طالبان کا کہنا ہے کہ @ashrafghani کے بھائی حشمت غنی احمد زئی نے طالبان کی حمایت کا اعلان کیا ہے۔ طالبان رہنما خلیل الرحمٰن اور دینی عالم مفتی محمود ذاکری اس موقع پر موجود ہیں۔ ویڈیو مفتی ذاکری نے جاری کی ہے۔ pic.twitter.com/MmBIsRqwa4

— Tahir Khan (@taahir_khan) August 21, 2021

The former president's brother pledged allegiance to Khalil-ur-Rehman Haqqani, who is a wanted man by both the US and the UN, and one of the leaders of the hardline Haqqani network. 

It was reported on Friday, that Haqqani was at the Kabul Pul-e-Kheshti Mosque, where hundreds pledged their support for the Taliban. 

The Taliban took control of Afghanistan following the withdrawal of US coalition forces from the country, sweeping across much of the territory with little opposition. 

In light of the Taliban's sudden takeover, chaos has quickly spread, particularly in the capital Kabul, where thousands have descended upon the airport in the hopes of securing a space in a flight out of Afghanistan.