Hundreds of desperate Afghans are trying to flee the country as the Taliban's coup nears closer to completion.
Footage and images posted online shows locals storming Kabul airport in a bid to escape, with some seen holding onto the wheels of aircraft prior to takeoff.
There are reports of casualties amid the chaos at the airport, which is being secured by US troops.
People try to get into Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan August 16, 2021.
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Commercial flights at the airport have mostly been suspended, with residents relying on flights put on by allied governments to flee the country.
One video showed a crowd pushing and shoving its way up a staircase, trying to board a plane, with some people hanging off the railings.
Massouma Tajik, a 22-year-old data analyst, described scenes of panic at the airport, where she was among hundreds of Afghans hoping to board an evacuation flight.
After waiting six hours, she heard shots from outside, where a crowd of men and women were trying to climb aboard a plane.
She said US troops sprayed gas and fired into the air to disperse them.
Some women are planning to stay in Kabul despite the takeover by the Taliban, which is expected to severely curtail their civil liberties.
Fawzia Koofi, a peace negotiator and former Afghan MP who has survived multiple assassination attempts during her career, fears her work will now be unravelled.
"I'm in Kabul with my two daughters ... because I just feel that my being in Kabul will help ... keep the morale high," she said.
Pakistan Army soldier stands guard as people cross into Afghanistan, at the Friendship Gate crossing point at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border town of Chaman, Pakistan August 16, 2021.
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"So I will continue to stay in Afghanistan for as long as I can. But in the meantime, I don't know what will happen tomorrow to me, because B-52 airplanes and rockets, the superpowers, NATO, nobody actually were able to defeat Taliban. Taliban are not afraid of them. But they are afraid of the women.
"A lot of women like me are in Afghanistan, my sisters ... [who] shared their good times with me. I should actually be with them in these bad times."
The Taliban declared victory after Afghan president Ashraf Ghani fled abroad as his government collapsed following the withdrawal of western troops from Afghanistan after 20 years. Western troops face a race against the clock to get people out of the country before the Taliban takes full control of the country.
Around 4,000 British nationals and eligible Afghans are thought to be in the city and in need of evacuation. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who previously served in the Scots Guard, admitted "some people won't get back" from Afghanistan.
He said: “It’s a really deep part of regret for me … look, some people won’t get back. Some people won’t get back and we will have to do our best in third countries to process those people.”
Asked why he felt the situation “so personally”, Mr Wallace replied: “Because I’m a soldier… because it’s sad and the West has done what it’s done, we have to do our very best to get people out and stand by our obligations and 20 years of sacrifice is what it is.”
People arriving from Afghanistan make their way at the Friendship Gate crossing point at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border town of Chaman, Pakistan August 16, 2021.
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Lead elements of 16 Air Assault Brigade were working with US forces to secure Kabul airport to ensure flights can continue as Afghans and foreigners alike scramble to leave. The first flight of British nationals and embassy staff arrived at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on Sunday night, the Ministry of Defence confirmed.
Mr Wallace said the barrier to helping more people leave the country was how quickly they could be processed. Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood, a former captain in the British Army and chairman of the Defence Select Committee, criticised the West for pulling out of the country.
He said: “The world is now a little bit more dangerous because they’ve now taken control of the country, and the West should really hang its head in shame after abruptly abandoning Afghanistan to a civil war after two decades of effort.”
Men try to get inside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan August 16, 2021.
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Following a meeting of the Government’s Cobra emergencies committee on Sunday, Boris Johnson said his priority was to get UK nationals and Afghans who had worked with them out of the country “as fast as we can”. In a sign of the desperate situation, the British ambassador Sir Laurie Bristow was said to be helping the small team of diplomats still in the country to process the applications of those hoping to leave.
A member of Taliban forces inspects the area outside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan August 16, 2021.
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There was particular concern for the safety of Afghans who worked with British forces when they were in the country as interpreters and in other roles amid fears of reprisals if they fall into the hands of the insurgents.
The Taliban insisted that they were seeking a peaceful takeover of power and were prepared to offer an amnesty to those who had worked with the Afghan government or with foreign governments.
However those assurances were being treated with deep scepticism by many British MPs amid reports of threats to those who remain and their families. Labour called on the Government to urgently expand the resettlement scheme for Afghans to ensure that none were left behind.
