Afghanistan Crisis: Striking Images Capture Mass Exodus From Kabul Airport

Fearing outbreak of violence and crimes against women as the Taliban captured Kabul, many fled the country.

The satellite photo shows traffic trying to reach the civilian side of the Kabul international airport.

(Photo: PTI)

After the Taliban captured Afghanistan's capital Kabul on Sunday, 15 August, several photos and videos depicting the mass exodus from the airport have been going viral on social media.

As the capital fell to the Taliban, the tarmac at the Hamid Karzai International Airport overflowed with desperation and panic as people struggled to board flights and flee the battered nation.

Multiple videos and photos have emerged from the Kabul airport, including those which showed people crowding in an effort to board a plane, while one video purportedly showed people falling to their deaths after they clung on to an aircraft as it took off.

Another photo showed a sea of Afghans crammed against each other in a United States (US) Air Force C-17 Globemaster III, the floor of the military aircraft covered with people huddled together, carrying almost no belongings with them.

On Monday, the US troops fired shots in the air at the Kabul airport as crowds poured out on the tarmac, news agency AFP reported, quoting a witness. At least five people were also killed at the airport due to unknown reasons.

The airport security and air traffic control is being managed by the US military in absence of Afghan Airport Security Authorities.