These Photos Capture The Disintegration Of Kabul

People were seen clinging to the outside of planes and scaling barbed-wire walls in an attempt to flee Afghanistan as Taliban militants took over.
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WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images

Above image: Afghan people climb atop a plane as they wait at the Kabul airport on Aug. 16. 

Thousands of people flooded Kabul’s airport on Monday after Taliban insurgents overtook the capital, igniting fears of a return to the harsh version of Islamic rule Afghans lived under from 1996 until 2001, and persecution of those who worked for Afghanistan’s former government or its security services.

Stunning photos taken at the Hamid Karzai International Airport captured Afghans’ panic, as they hauled their family members over barbed-wired walls and desperately clung to departing airplanes, some ultimately falling to their deaths. Similar evacuation attempts were being made on the ground at the country’s border, which is now controlled by the Taliban.

The horrors mark the end to a two-decade campaign, led by US troops, to create a Western-backed government in the country. 

Here are some of the photos taken amid the chaos.

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Haroon Sabawoon/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Thousands of Afghans rush to the Hamid Karzai International Airport as they try to flee the Afghan capital of Kabul on Aug. 16.

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WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images

A US soldier points his gun toward an Afghan passenger at the Kabul airport on Aug. 16.

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WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images

A volunteer carries an injured man as other people can be seen waiting at the Kabul airport on Aug. 16.

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SHAKIB RAHMANI/AFP via Getty Images

US soldiers take up their positions as they secure the airport in Kabul on Aug. 16.

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Haroon Sabawoon/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Thousands of Afghans rush to the Hamid Karzai International Airport as they try to flee Kabul on Aug. 16. 

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Haroon Sabawoon/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Afghans at the Hamid Karzai International Airport try to flee Kabul on Aug. 16. 

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WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images

Afghan passengers sit as they wait to leave the Kabul airport on Aug. 16. 

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WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images

Afghan people climb on a plane and sit by the door as they wait at the Kabul airport on Aug. 16. 

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WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images

US soldiers rest as Afghan people (not pictured) wait to leave the Kabul airport on Aug. 16. 

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WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images

Afghan people wait to leave the Kabul airport on Aug. 16. 

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SHAKIB RAHMANI/AFP via Getty Images

An Afghan crowd at the airport as US soldiers stand guard in Kabul on Aug. 16.

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WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images

Afghan people sit along the tarmac as they wait to leave the Kabul airport on Aug. 16. 

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Sayed Khodaiberdi Sadat/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Afghans crowd the Kabul airport on Aug. 16 to flee the country as the Taliban took control of Afghanistan after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.

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WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images

Afghan families walk by the aircrafts at the Kabul airport on Aug. 16.

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Haroon Sabawoon/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Taliban members are seen near Hamid Karzai International Airport as thousands of Afghans rush to flee Kabul on Aug. 16. 

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WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images

An Afghan child walks near military uniforms as he along with elders wait to leave the Kabul airport on Aug. 16.

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WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images

US soldiers stand guard at the Kabul airport on Aug. 16.