Afghans crowd the tarmac of the Kabul airport on Monday to flee the country. Thousands of people mobbed the city's airport trying to flee the group's feared hardline brand of Islamist rule.

Afghans crowd the tarmac of the Kabul airport on Monday to flee the country. Thousands of people mobbed the city's airport trying to flee the group's feared hardline brand of Islamist rule. / AFP via Getty Images

The scenes out of Afghanistan's international airport in Kabul reflect the chaos and desperation the country is facing.

Images from the ground show hundreds if not thousands of Afghans crowding the airport, including the tarmac, in an apparent attempt to flee the country, as NPR's Greg Myre described on Morning Edition.

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

Afghan people climb on a plane and sit by the door as they wait at the Kabul airport. / AFP via Getty Images

U.S. forces have set up razor wire to keep the crowd back, and there have been reports of gunfire at or near the airport (NPR has not confirmed the details). The U.S. said Sunday an additional 1,000 troops would head to Kabul to help with evacuation airports, boosting the overall expected numbers to about 6,000 U.S. troops in the country.

An Afghan family rushes to the airport as they flee.

An Afghan family rushes to the airport as they flee. / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

The airlift of thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of people, includes dual Afghan-U.S. citizens as well as Afghans who've helped the U.S., "but it seems many people have just rushed to the airport on their own," Myre reports.

NPR's Michele Kelemen adds that the U.S. State Department says all embassy personnel are safe and at the airport.

Listen to this morning's update here.

This story originally appeared on the Morning Edition live blog.

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Tags: Afghan Taliban  Taliban  Afghanistan