大象传媒

An eyewitness account from the presidential palace as the Taliban encircle Kabul.

He was the president鈥檚 chief of staff, she was the ambassador in Washington. Both were appointed by President Ghani: Matin Bek, the son of a warlord, and Adela Raz, the daughter of an intellectual. They were Afghanistan鈥檚 ultimate power couple. Matin was in the presidential palace the day the capital fell to the Taliban. He describes the moment he realised, uncomprehending, that the president had fled. The palace, he says, was 鈥渢he safest place in Afghanistan鈥� that day. Adela, in Washington, had just woken up when she realised that something was terribly wrong. 鈥淕et out now,鈥� she told her husband. Matin鈥檚 assessment looking back on the past few years: 鈥淭he government failed and I was part of it.鈥�