There are dramatic scenes at Kabul International Airport as desperate Afghans try to flee.

Two armed men were killed by US soldiers on Monday, while three people are reported to have died after falling from the underside of a plane they were clinging to shortly after take-off.

Huge crowds have gathered at the airport since the Taliban took control of the capital.

US forces have reportedly fired into the air to disperse people who were trying to force their way on to planes.

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

Image source, AFP

Image source, Reuters

The head of US Central Command has met face-to-face with senior Taliban leaders to ask the militia not to interfere with the US evacuations out of Kabul airport, a US defense official told the Associated Press.

At the Sunday meeting in Doha, Qatar, General Frank McKenzie reached an agreement with the Taliban to establish a "deconfliction mechanism" - meaning the Taliban would not interfere with the evacuations, the AP reported.

US forces are currently working to secure the airport in Kabul. Witnesses say at least three civilians died on Monday in the chaos.

Amnesty International has called on the international community to act "decisively to avert further tragedy", following the Taliban's takeover of power and the chaotic scenes witnessed at Kabul airport that followed.

"What we are witnessing in Afghanistan is a tragedy that should have been foreseen and averted," said the organisation's secretary general, Agnes Callamard.

"It will only be compounded further without swift and decisive action from the international community. Thousands of Afghans at serious risk of Taliban reprisals - from academics and journalists to civil society activists and women human rights defenders - are in danger of being abandoned to a deeply uncertain future."

She called on foreign governments to "take every necessary measure" to safely evacuate and relocate all those who could be targeted by the militants, and also urged a suspension to all deportations to Afghanistan.

Callamard also urged the US to continue to provide security at the airport, which earlier in the day had seen chaotic scenes where shots were fired and passengers were seen apparently clinging to moving aircraft.

Image source, EPA

To those of you just joining us, here's a recap of the main events today

• There have been chaotic scenes at Kabul airport as Afghans try to flee
• Several people were reported killed at the airport, and video appeared to show dozens of desperate Afghans running alongside a military transporter plane, some even clinging to the side of the aircraft
• Former President Hamid Karzai is in contact with the Taliban with a view to bringing peace to the country, he says
• The defence ministry in Uzbekistan says its air defence forces have shot down an Afghan military jet after it crossed their border
• A number of Western countries have started evacuation flights out of Kabul
• More than 60 countries have issued a joint statement calling on the Taliban to allow people to leave

• Earlier today, the US completed the evacuation of its embassy and took down its flag at its diplomatic quarters

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has pledged to stay in Afghanistan, saying in a tweet: "We have worked here for 30 years. We will not stop now."

“There is currently no fighting in Kabul. If there had been conflict in Kabul the civilian suffering would have been enormous," the ICRC’s delegation head, Eloi Fillon, said on Monday.

"However, what is clear is that there are huge humanitarian needs resulting from weeks of heavy fighting in cities like Kandahar, Herat, and Lashkar Gah."

Medical charity MSF has also said it is continuing its medical activities in all five of its projects in Herat, Kandahar, Khost, Kunduz and Lashkar Gah, and has even transferred its first patient to its new trauma centre in Kunduz, external.

Emergency, another charity providing free healthcare, said yesterday that it had expanded its capacity after 80 wounded patients arrived at its hospital in Kabul.

On Monday, the charity's medical co-ordinator at its emergency centre in the city said it had received a number of patients from the airport, external, where several people were reportedly killed earlier in the day.

Image source, Reuters

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai is in contact with the Taliban with a view to bringing peace to the country, he says.

Mr Karzai was Afghanistan's leader from 2001-2014.

He says he is part of a three-member council working to transfer power to the militants peacefully.

The council also includes the leader of the Hezb-e Islami party, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar - a former warlord turned politician - and the chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation and former foreign minister, Abdullah Abdullah.

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Karzai says the council has had contacts with the Taliban leadership and will be co-ordinating with them.

"The important thing is the life and safety of all Afghan people and our aim is to establish that. The Taliban have told me they have appointed people to focus on the security of the city, and I hope there will be further progress on this tomorrow [Monday].

"Dr Ashraf Ghani [the current president] has deserted his job and gone. He has left the scene. To fill this vacuum, legitimacy needs to be brought back. Only through a legitimate body, the security of Kabul and the whole country can be tasked to suitable hands.

"The Taliban are dominating now and I hope the domination is strong and for the good of the Afghan nation."

Image source, Reuters

The defence ministry in Uzbekistan says its air defence forces have shot down an Afghan military jet after it crossed their border.

A ministry spokesman said the jet had tried to illegally cross into the central Asian country's airspace.

He did not say how many people were on board or whether there were any survivors.

Bekpulat Okboyev, a doctor in the southern province of Surkhondaryo, which borders Afghanistan, told the AFP news agency that two patients wearing Afghan military uniforms were admitted to his hospital on Sunday evening.

He said one had a parachute and had suffered fractures.

On Sunday, Uzbekistan authorities said 84 Afghan soldiers had been detained after crossing the border.

Image source, PA Media

Families of British soldiers who died on previous tours of Afghanistan have criticised the UK and US governments' handling of the withdrawal from the nation as the Taliban starts to seize control.

Graham Knight, whose son, 25-year-old RAF Sergeant Ben Knight was killed when his Nimrod aircraft exploded in Afghanistan in 2006, says the British government should have started evacuating civilians "a week ago".

The 69-year-old told the PA news agency: "The Taliban made their intent very clear that, as soon as we went out, they would move in.

"As for whether people's lives were lost through a war that wasn't winneable, I think they were.

"I think the problem was we were fighting people that were native to the country. We weren't fighting terrorists, we were fighting people who actually lived there and didn't like us being there."

Ian Sadler, whose 21-year-old Trooper son Jack died when his Land Rover struck a mine in Afghanistan in 2007, told PA: "Why did they think the Afghan national army would be able to keep the Taliban back based on just numbers alone? Why did our Government and allies have so much confidence in them?"

He adds: "When the Nato forces were pulled out so suddenly, the Afghan National Army were left without any direction."

While many Western nations have closed their embassies in Kabul after the Taliban's takeover of the city, a number of countries are still holding the door open for future links with the militants:

• A spokeswoman for China's foreign ministry told AFP news agency that Beijing welcomed the opportunity to build deeper ties with Afghanistan. "The Taliban have repeatedly expressed their hope to develop good relations with China, and that they look forward to China's participation in the reconstruction and development of Afghanistan... we welcome this," she said
• Russia's ambassador to Afghanistan, Dmitry Zhirnov, is due to meet a Taliban representative on Tuesday to discuss security for the embassy in Kabul, which will remain open. Moscow has said it hopes to develop ties with the Taliban, although it also says it is in no rush to recognise them as the country's rulers

• Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has said the US "military failure" in Afghanistan offers an opportunity to establish lasting peace in the country."America's military defeat and its withdrawal must become an opportunity to restore life, security and durable peace in Afghanistan," Iran's state TV quoted Raisi as saying.

Image source, HOC

The UK Parliament is being recalled from its summer recess on Wednesday to debate the situation in Afghanistan.

MPs will meet in the Commons at 09:30 BST. The prime minister will open the debate which will last around five hours. No vote is expected.

Some have questioned the point of Parliament being recalled to discuss events that have already happened over which their influence is limited.

Conservative former Defence Minister Johnny Mercer told the Westminster Hour on BBC Radio 4: "Parliament's being recalled. So what? The airport is under siege. Boris Johnson has said he doesn't want Afghanistan to become a place for terrorism, it doesn't mean anything to the families of those who lost their sons and daughters in this war."

But Labour Party Chair Annaliese Dodds said there were urgent questions for ministers to answer over resettlement programmes for Afghans who had been left "to sink or swim."

She added: "There most definitely is a point in Parliament being recalled, it's been very disturbing that we have not seen a clear government response. We do need to have that session in Parliament."

And the SNP's Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, told Sky News he hoped the debate would help to "guide the UK government" and its approach to Nato and the United Nations.

BBC Radio 5 Live

A man who fled Afghanistan over 20 years ago after being tortured by the Taliban has said he is going through stages of grief watching them take over his home country.

Roh Yakobi was 12 years old when he left Afghanistan after being tortured in his village.

He told BBC Radio 5 Live: "It became more real last night when I had that text from a prominent journalist friend, saying that the Taliban had begun going door to door."

Roh fled to Pakistan and then Iran, where he worked as a child labourer, before moving back to Pakistan.

“I received a chilling video this morning, the Taliban had gathered my community in a mosque, the commanders addressing people with threatening gestures.

"They’re already beginning to flex their muscles," he said.

Listen to 5 Live on the free BBC Sounds app.

Image source, Getty

BBC video journalist Malik Mudassir has been filming in Kabul today.

The Taliban are everywhere, at the checkpoints which used to be official police or army barricades. There is no panic in the city today. The Taliban were controlling traffic, they were searching cars, and they were especially searching those vehicles which used to belong to the police and army. They have taken all those vehicles and they are using them.

In the city centre, life is normal. Traffic is much less. Most of the shops are closed. But people look much calmer than yesterday, when everybody was furious.

I saw a couple of females out on the street. They were wearing [Covid] face masks and a head scarf. They were walking on the streets, doing whatever they want to do, and the Taliban were alright with them.

There is no music on the streets at all. I am staying in a hotel where they used to play background music. They have stopped it as well. People are scared. But the city is still going on.

But… the scene at the airport was catastrophic. Families, kids, young, old, they were all walking towards the airport, struggling to flee this country.

As soon as you approach the main entrance gates of the airport, there were Taliban with heavy ammunition there, trying to disperse people by shooting in the air. People who wanted to get into airport, they were climbing on the walls, even the barbed wire, even the gates. Every single person was pushing to get into the airport.

Kerry Allen
BBC Monitoring, Chinese Media Analyst

China is ready to deepen "friendly and cooperative" relations with Afghanistan, a government spokeswoman told AFP after the Taliban seized control of the country.

The Chinese embassy in Afghanistan says that it has not received any reports of Chinese casualties in the country.

However, it is urging Chinese nationals not to go out, and to call the global emergency call centre if they are in need of help., external According to the independent South China Morning Post (SCMP), Beijing has no plans to remove its staff in the country, despite the collapse of the Afghan government setting off an “evacuation scramble”., external

SCMP says that this signals the embassy has “been in contact with Taliban”.

China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying has today told media that China “respects the wishes and choices of the Afghan people” at this time, but that China will “continue to monitor the situation”.

The national Global Times newspaper says that China will particularly “prevent the situation there from having a negative impact on Xinjiang”, the autonomous region that borders Afghanistan.

Within China, the unfolding events in Afghanistan are a top story, and the media focus is very much on how Afghans feel betrayed by the US.

Global Times is sharing footage of protesters outside the White House, and many outlets are stressing that US President Joe Biden failed to predict this situation a month ago.

There is much discussion on national broadcaster CCTV’s decision to air the American film A Dog’s Way Home today.

Global Times says many believe the title hints at how China views the US leaving Afghanistan.

"A dog's way home... the US Embassy in Afghanistan is on their way home!" it notes one Weibo user has commented. , external

Joshua Cheetham
BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

Since the start of their assault this year, Taliban fighters have been sharing images of military hardware they’ve captured from the government – including attack helicopters and armoured vehicles.

The Taliban have also got their hands on artillery, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), rifles, pistols, and equipment like night vision goggles, according to defence think tank RUSI. Some of this has been seized from Afghan military bases. Others have been handed over by soldiers who’ve defected from government forces.

The seizure of big-ticket items like helicopters has made headlines. But Dr Jack Watling, a research fellow at RUSI, says the Taliban don’t have the expertise to use and maintain them, and they’ve probably had little impact on the battlefield.

A bigger concern is the Taliban's access to thermal imaging and night vision equipment, and to optical gear – which can be attached to guns to improve their accuracy.

The Taliban are already selling some of their stolen weapons abroad, in central Asia and the Middle East, and this will likely expand into east Africa, says Dr Watling. The impact of this could be severe.

“When you have a pervasive availability of weapons, that facilitates more armed clashes because you have a better armed opposition,” says Dr Watling. “That’s something we’ll probably start seeing and feeling over the next few months.”

With all this extra weaponry floating around, there’s also a risk of prolonged fighting in Afghanistan if the Taliban don’t deliver on popular demands.

“Many of the guys who were in Afghan military units will have taken their weapons home, frankly to protect their families,” says Dr Watling. “So you have a lot of people who are quite well armed and have some military training, who may decide they don’t want things done as the Taliban would like.”

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that Afghans have "broken the shackles of slavery" in a speech about cultural imperialism.

His comments criticising education in English in Pakistan came a day after the Taliban took control of the Afghan capital, Kabul, following days of rapid advances.

Pakistan was one of only three countries to recognise the Afghan Taliban Government in 1996, and is expected to make key decisions today at its national security committee meeting chaired by the prime minister and attended by senior military and intelligence agency officials.

Separately, Pakistan's major religious political parties Jamat-e-Islami and JUI-F congratulated the Afghan Taliban on their recent “success” and extended their full support and co-operation to the movement in Afghanistan. Some members of these religious groups also distributed sweets to celebrate the Taliban takeover.

The Taliban are also in control of the two major border crossings with Pakistan. One of them, the Torkham crossing, was briefly closed to pedestrians and trade after it was seized by Taliban fighters. Pakistan is not currently allowing any new refugees to enter the country and Afghans are therefore only allowed to return to their country via these crossings.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi met a delegation of Afghan political leaders from Northern Afghanistan who expressed their concerns regarding the inclusion of minorities and other ethnic groups in any future government of Afghanistan.

Footage shared on social media appears to show Afghan civilians clinging to the side of a US military aircraft as it prepares to take off from Kabul's international airport.

In the videos, which the BBC has not verified, a number of people are seen apparently sitting on the side of the US military transport plane as it moves down the runway, while crowds run alongside.

According to some reports, which have also not been confirmed, at least two people were killed after falling from a plane after it had taken off.

At least two other people were reportedly killed earlier at the same airport, as crowds of passengers attempted to flee the country. It is unclear whether they were shot or killed in a stampede.

The Taliban entered Kabul on Sunday and took control of Afghanistan for the first time in almost 20 years, after the government collapsed and President Ashraf Ghani fled abroad.

Soutik Biswas
India Correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

When an Air India flight carrying 40 passengers - all Afghans - from Delhi approached the airport in Kabul on Sunday afternoon, air traffic control cleared it for landing.

It was a warm, sunny day with temperatures rising to 35C.

The six-member crew had little idea of how fast things were unravelling on the ground. Taliban fighters were seizing Kabul after the government in Afghanistan collapsed, bringing to a swift end almost 20 years of the US-led coalition's presence in the country.

Even as the pilot prepared for landing, air traffic controllers told them to hold in the air, without giving any reasons.

For the next 90 minutes, sources in the airline said, the flight circled at a height of 16,000ft (5,000m) over the capital.

Read more here.

Vikas Pandey
BBC News

Nasim Javid* says he is struggling to recognise his beloved city. He says most businesses and shops are shut and people have locked themselves up in their houses.

"It's an anxious wait for us and fear of the unknown has gripped us," he says.

Mr Javid says Mazar was one of the most liberal cities in the country and he is worried for young people who have grown up with many freedoms like cinema, music and access to education.

"It will be particularly hard for young women. I know so many female medical students who would make excellent doctors but now they don't know how they will finish their education," he says.

He also says that he has also heard reports of Taliban insurgents looting property. He adds that one of his relatives had an expensive car which the Taliban took away from him in the middle of a busy road. "They just forced him out of the car."

He says incidents like these scare him as he has "not been able to sleep for days now".

*Name has been changed to protect identity

An Afghan woman arriving in Delhi says she fears her friends will be killed.

And a former MP from Afghanistan says no-one knows what will happen next.

A number of Western countries have started evacuation flights out of Kabul.

On Monday, the Czech foreign minister also confirmed that the country's first evacuation flight had landed in Prague, with Czech nationals, Afghan co-workers and their families on board.

Germany announced the start of flights out of Afghanistan on Sunday evening, with military planes sent to help with the evacuation of German citizens and some Afghan employees on Monday morning.

France and New Zealand have also said they are working to get their nationals out of the country.