THIS is the moment a stampede of thousands stormed the runways in Kabul Airport in a desperate effort to get the last flights out of Afghanistan.
In scenes echoing the sudden fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam war, petrified men, women and children were filmed in a mad dash to to escape Taliban fighters storming Kabul.
Stampede at Kabul Airport as thousands storm runways in desperate effort to get last flights out of Afghanistan
Credit: Twitter
Shocking video shows people pulling each other onto an aircraft as the ramp rises
Credit: Twitter
It’s thought it is an United States Air Force C-17 plane
Credit: Twitter
On social media locals have claimed that the airport has now fallen into chaos, with no security to try and retain order.
And there have been several reports of gun shoots on the runway.
The U.S. embassy said in a security alert earlier this evening: “There are reports of the airport taking fire; therefore we are instructing U.S. citizens to shelter in place.”
Earlier this evening another clip showed what were apparently US embassy staff attempting to flee by pulling each other into a plane while the ramp was being raised.
And a third video showed over a thousand citizens attempting to board a KamAir flight to Istanbul which can only carry 300 passengers.
Footage showed people pushing and shoving as they make their way through the overpacked aisle of the plane which is already over capacity.
It comes as NATO this evening revealed that all commercial flights are now suspended from Kabul airport.
According to Reuters, only military aircrafts will now be allowed to operate.
Now Boris Johnson has blamed the US for the advancement of the Taliban in Afghanistan, claiming President Biden “accelerated” their control.
The Prime Minister said the “difficult” situation had been exacerbated by the President’s decision to withdraw troops from the war-torn country.
Earlier today Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country after the Taliban stormed the capital Kabul and seized his palace.
Mr Ghani later said he left to “prevent a flood of bloodshed”.
Ghani, who did not say where he had gone, said he believed “countless patriots would be martyred and the city of Kabul would be destroyed” if he had stayed behind.
Taliban fanatics have released 5,000 prisoners and taken control of Kabul as the government dramatically collapsed this afternoon.
Taliban fighters and locals sit on an Afghan National Army humvee vehicle in Jalalabad
Credit: AFP
Taliban fighters on the streets of Kabul
Credit: TWITTER/FURKAN
A Chinook helicopter flies over the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan
Credit: AP
It comes hours after the Taliban took control of Jalalabad and means they now have seized every city in the war-torn country.
Mr Johnson today chaired an emergency Cobra meeting and recalled MPs to Parliament to tackle the crisis.
The speed of the Taliban’s victory has shaken the world and came just weeks after troops from the US, UK and other Nato countries left Afghanistan.
A few days ago US officials predicted it would take 30 days for the jihadis to reach Kabul – and 90 to take the city – but they have swept all before them in a terrifying rampage.
Twenty years after they were ejected by the US and its allies in the wake of 9/11 they stand on the brink of being back in power.
Tory MP Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, described the Taliban victory “the biggest single foreign policy disaster” since Suez.
His colleague Johnny Mercer, who fought in the country, said it was “humiliating”.
Ghani left Kabul for Tajikistan only 24 hours after he addressed the nation and said he hoped to fight on – but the speed of the Taliban advance left him no option but to flee.
They had demanded his removal as part of talks to ensure a peaceful transition of power when they reached Kabul to avoid an all out assault on the capital.
In scenes that echoed the fall of Saigon helicopters were seen ferrying US embassy staff to safety at a secure area near the airport.
The US Ambassador left in the early evening with the American flag to a new site at the airport.
Britain’s ambassador Sir Laurie Bristow remains in Kabul as he and remaining diplomatic staff prepare to be evacuated.
Paras from the 16 Air Assault Brigade have begun deploying to evacuate Brits from the city as well as about 2,000 Afghan nationals who worked with British forces.
Kabul airport is to remain open for foreigners to leave, the Taliban said, and flights were continuing to operate.
Terrified residents have already begun fleeing in their cars leading to traffic jams, with a huge number of people now massing at the country’s borders.
Smoke near the US embassy in Kabul as documents are burned
Credit: AP
A US helicopter evacuating staff from the country’s embassy in Kabul
Credit: AP
Over 4,000 UK nationals waited for a last-ditch airlift by UK troops as Taliban fighters moved to within seven miles of Afghan capital Kabul
