Chaos at Kabul airport as Afghans scramble to flee Taliban

Thousands of Afghanis fearing for their lives after the Taliban takeover of the country have converged on Kabul airport in the hopes of escaping.Show more

US troops fired shots in the air at the airport to prevent hundreds of civilians from running onto the tarmac after taking over security to facilitate a massive airlift of foreign diplomats and citizens as Taliban forces took control.

Other footage shows panicked Afghans chasing a US military C-17 down the runway, with some clinging onto the plane before takeoff.

Meanwhile, footage published by Afghan outlet Asvaka showed three stowaways falling to the deaths after clinging on to the wheels of a military plane as it took off from Kabul airport. Video posted later appeared to show residents collecting their bodies from a roof in Kabul.

All commercial flights out of the airport have now been canceled, and the US Embassy has warned Americans not to travel to Kabul airport unless they have been given explicit instructions to do so.

Six thousand US troops have been deployed to secure the entire perimeter of the airport, a defense official said.

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