Ashraf Ghani

Ashraf Ghani served as the president of Afghanistan from 2014 to 2021. He was elected in 2014, succeeding Hamid Karzai, in an election that followed a period of deadlock and involved an internationally supervised audit. Ghani's presidency was marked by the withdrawal of NATO combat forces and a resurgent Taliban. His administration pursued peace negotiations with the Taliban, and a peace deal was signed between the U.S. and the Taliban in February 2020, stipulating a U.S. troop withdrawal in exchange for Taliban commitments against terrorist groups. Despite these efforts, the Taliban gained control of Afghanistan in August 2021, leading to Ghani's departure from the country.123