There have been chaotic scenes at the main airport in Kabul with desperate Afghans trying to flee the city the day after the Taliban seized control of the capital. U.S. authorities said they were forced to temporarily close down the airport on August 16 to restore order and clear the airfield of people so that flights could resume.
Chaotic Scenes At Kabul Airport As Afghans Flee The Taliban
- By RFE/RL
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Desperate Afghans run onto the tarmac as a U.S. Air Force plane prepares to take off from Hamid Karzai airport on August 16. Some were seen clinging to the jet and then falling to their deaths.
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Women with their children try to get inside Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on August 16.
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Thousands jammed into Kabul hoping to flee the country.
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A Taliban fighter keeps watch outside Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 16.
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A member of the Taliban (left) sits on an armored vehicle observing the dramatic scenes outside the airport in Kabul.
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A man pulls a girl over the wall of the airport.
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People struggled to enter the airport on August 16 after rumors spread that foreign countries were evacuating people even without visas after the Taliban takeover of Kabul.
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People climbing the airport wall.
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Desperate Afghans attempt to board a plane at the airport in Kabul.
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Afghans climb atop a plane as they wait in hope of being rescued at the airport.
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Afghans crowd at the airport as they wait to leave Kabul.
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Taliban fighters took control of Afghanistan's presidential palace on August 15 after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.
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People crowded on to the airport tarmac.
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U.S. soldiers take up positions as they work to secure the airport in Kabul on August 16.
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Afghan crowds gather at the airport as U.S. soldiers stand guard.
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A U.S. soldier points his gun toward an Afghan at the airport in Kabul.
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An injured man is carried among the crowds at the airport.
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Afghan passengers sit inside a plane as they wait to leave Kabul.
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U.S. soldiers stand guard at Kabul airport as a plane takes off on August 16.
