[imagesource: Jim Huylebroek]

The sheer panic and desperation of Afghanis trying to get out of the country as the Taliban took control were all too apparent yesterday.

In years to come, the video footage of people clinging to a US military plane as it left the runway at Kabul’s airport, with some reported to have fallen to their deaths, may come to represent America’s total failure in the region.

Following chaos at the airport, evacuation flights were cancelled, although they have since resumed.

The Sunday Times spoke with a South African contractor who wished to remain anonymous about the “apocalyptic scenes” he saw at the airport, with the sound of gunfire all too common:

“Everybody’s evacuating,” he said.

“The airport itself is crazy, with locals trying to flee the country, which makes it difficult for the rest of us to evacuate because all commercial flights have been cancelled. Aircraft cannot land or take off with people occupying the runway.”

“There’s no real threat to expats’ lives currently,” said the contractor.

“The Taliban have said they won’t hurt any of the expats and they want the extraction of the expats to be peaceful.

Image: Maxar Technologies, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

“What makes it difficult is the local Afghan people trying to flee the country … they’ve run onto the runway, they’re trying to get out.”