Chaos and despair at Kabul airport

Some Afghans tried to hang on to the departing planes. Others crowded the tarmac after security lines were breached. By nightfall, all flights from Kabul airport were suspended.

The US military, which has been evacuating thousands of Americans and other foreigners, controls the military side of the airport. But it halted all flights and tried to control the civilian side after days of chaos and lax security. As panic and grief intensified over the return of Taliban rule, Many Afghans criedAdmitting their chance of escape was slim.

Satellite images taken earlier on Monday showed large crowds of Afghans erupting from stations and across the runway, and videos showed some civilians trying to climb onto the jet bridge to the Kam Air plane.

US forces launched helicopters at low altitude above the crowd in an attempt to clear the runway for the planes to take off.

Desperate crowds fleeing the country also gathered outside the airport gates.

Several witnesses said the Taliban now control access to entrances on the civilian side of the airport, preventing people and vehicles from entering. Satellite images showed massive traffic jams near the airport entrance. A European worker was told that no one would be allowed to leave the country without permission from the “new government”.