Flights resume from Kabul airport as people scramble to leave Afghanistan

Evacuation flights resumed from Kabul’s international airport Tuesday after a frenzied and panic-filled day that saw thousands of Afghans swarm the tarmac, including some who fell off departing planes in desperate attempts to get out of Afghanistan. Images from Hamid Karzai International shared on social media and news outlets stunned the world, as evacuation flights took off with locals still clinging onto aircraft wheels. The crowds, who were trying to flee the country a day after Kabul fell to the Taliban, have thinned out, reports say, though the ability to leave the country remains very limited for most Afghans, who face an uncertain future. Without passports or visas — which the majority of Afghans do not have — they cannot go anywhere. The airport reopened early Tuesday local time, after U.S. forces closed it for several hours due to the chaotic security situation. Airport security and air traffic control have been taken over by the US military, according to the Pentagon, in the absence of Afghan airport security authorities. Commercial flights remain extremely limited, with some canceled. But a handful of flights are still scheduled to go to Istanbul and a few cities within Afghanistan, according to flight monitoring website FlightRadar24. Flydubai has suspended flights from Dubai to Kabul through at least Wednesday, while Emirates Airline said its Kabul flights are suspended “until further notice.” The only commercial airlines scheduled to depart are local carriers Kam Air and Ariana Afghan Airlines, according to FlightRadar24. Some in Afghanistan have described extremely high ticket prices and being turned away by airlines due to flights being overbooked.<br/>