In Pics | Chaos at Kabul airport as desperate Afghans flee amid Taliban takeover

Thousands of desperate Afghans trying to escape the Taliban takeover swarmed Kabul’s main international airport, rushing the boarding gates, mobbing the runways, clambering atop the wings of jets and even trying to cling to the fuselage of departing US military planes. At least half a dozen Afghans were killed in the chaos, some falling from the skies as they lost their grasp, and at least two shot by US soldiers trying to contain the surging crowds.

Afghans rushed onto the tarmac of the Kabul airport as thousands tried to flee the country after the Taliban seized power with stunning speed on August 16, 2021. Credit: AFP Photo

Some clung to the side of a US military transport plane before takeoff, in a widely shared video that captured the sense of desperation as America's 20-year war comes to a chaotic end. Credit: AP Photo

A packed aircraft filled by hundreds of people as they wait leave the Kabul airport. Credit: AFP Photo

French nationals and their Afghan colleagues line up to board a French military transport plane at the Kabul airport on August 17, 2021. Credit: AFP Photo

Sleepless, hungry and scared, people are waiting for hours at the airport to board a flight. Credit: AFP Photo

Afghan people sit as they wait to leave the Kabul airport. Credit: AFP Photo

People climb a barbed wire wall to enter the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. Credit: Reuters Photo

Afghan people climb atop a plane as they wait at the Kabul airport in Kabul on August 16, 2021. Credit: AFP Photo

A man pulls a girl to get inside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. Credit: Reuters Photo

Evacuees crowd the interior of a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft departing Kabul. Credit: Reuters Photo

Hundreds of locals gather outside Kabul airport, Afghanistan. Credit: Reuters Photo

Afghan people run towards the Kabul airport to leave Kabul. Credit: AFP Photo

Afghan people sit along the tarmac as they wait to leave the Kabul airport in Kabul. Credit: AFP Photo

Afghan people run towards the Kabul airport to leave Kabul. Credit: AFP Photo

Afghan passengers sit as they wait to leave the Kabul airport after a stunningly swift end to Afghanistan's 20-year war. Credit: AFP Photo