may be a rumour the taliban came to the palace at about 8pm, after six hours he had run away from the country. 0ur chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, explained what the effect was of ashraf ghani's hasty departure. even the taliban this week have said they wished that kabul had not fallen in this way, that there had been an agreed transfer of power. of course this isjust a big what if, but if president ghani had not left the palace, if the taliban had come in as part of a coordinated transfer of power, some interim arrangement, would so many afghans have fled? matin bek himself, and many other officials also left afghanistan the next day. would the situation be different on the ground? many believe that an opportunity was missed at least to do something more smoothly. lyse�*s full interview is available on her podcast called a wish for afghanistan. new episodes are