Ousted Afghan president lived in a 5-star Abu Dhabi hotel after fleeing the Taliban, report says

• Afghan president Ashraf Ghani lived in a 5* hotel in the UAE after fleeing the Taliban, per The WSJ.
• Ghani left on August 15 last year as the Taliban began to seize control of Kabul.

Afghan president Ashraf Ghani spent months holed up in a five-star hotel in the United Arab Emirates after fleeing his country as the Taliban began to take control, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Ghani fled Kabul on August 15 following a months-long surge by the Taliban in which the militant group took over swathes of the country from his government after US forces left.

When they reached Kabul, the city was given up without a fight.

Ghani's whereabouts were unknown for several days. He eventually surfaced in the UAE, which said at the time that it had let in Ghani on humanitarian grounds.

Once in the UAE Ghani took up residence in a luxury suite at the five-star St. Regis Hotel in Abu Dhabi along with his wife, according to The Journal.

Ghani stayed there for months, The Journal reported, while his wife selected a private villa for their permanent residence that was provided by the Emirati government.

After feeling Kabul, Ghani said in a statement that he fled to prevent bloodshed and "keep the guns silent."

However, Russia accused Ghani of fleeing with four cars and a helicopter, and alleged that he took large amounts of cash with him.

An investigation led by the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said it could not say for sure whether Ghani took money with him.

But the official did confirm that at least $5 million went missing from the presidential palace and that tens of millions of dollars were taken from the National Directorate of Security.