US troops used teargas and fired shots into the air on Wednesday night to control the increasingly desperate crowds of Afghans at the airport, while Taliban fighters blocked Westerners from getting to evacuation planes in a fifth day of chaos in Kabul.
US Air Force fighter jets are now on standby in Kabul and are performing overwatch flights as the shambolic rush to get tens of thousands of Westerners and Afghan allies out of the region continues.
It is the latest development in an increasingly tense situation on the ground in Kabul where the Taliban, which had promised peace, appears to be tightening its grip. Its fighters on the street are stopping people from getting to the airport, where jets are waiting to fly them to safety, and there are no troops there on the ground to retrieve them because they are all at the airport defending it from a stampede of frightened natives.
Overnight, 12 US Air Force C-17 cargo jets removed 2,000 people from the region - an average of just 160 people per flight, despite the planes being able to carry 600 people - six fewer aircraft than in the previous 24 hours. Since August 14, the US has only removed 7,000 people in total from the region.
Only 300 of those who flew out were American and officials can't give a breakdown of who else was on the planes or whether or not they had the right paperwork to be there.
Those on the ground say it's a lottery who gets through and that some people with tickets are being crushed or turned away, while Afghans with no paperwork are getting on through sheer luck and pushing their way to the front.
The Air Force promised to lift between 5,000 and 9,000 out per day and there are at least 50,000 waiting to be taken to safety but people are not being processed quickly enough because of manic crowds at the airport's gates and on the roads, which are being blocked by the Taliban.
US troops clash with desperate Afghans at Kabul airport as the struggle to contain crowds of thousands of desperate nationals continues. The troops have resorted to using tear gas and firing warning shots to stop the crowds from scaling walls
US troops at Kabul airport are using tear gas to control crowds of frantic Afghans who are trying to climb over to be put on evacuation flights. Footage shows shots being fired into the air in the darkness to disperse crowds
A half empty C-17 flies out of Kabul with Afghan refugees on board on Thursday. Overnight, 2,000 people were removed on the jets - an average of 160 per flight - when they can take 600
A fuller C-17 that took off from Kabul carrying Afghan refugees on Thursday. Of the 2,000 removed overnight, only 300 were American
US troops at the airport continue to control crowds. At night, they are using teargas and firing their weapons to stop people from trying to scale fences
President Biden has promised not to withdraw the military entirely while Americans remain on the ground. So far, the deadline for removal is August 31 - 12 days from now.
At a Pentagon briefing on Thursday morning, Army Major. Gen. Hank Taylor and Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said they didn't know how many Americans were still left in Afghanistan. Only 300 were removed overnight. They claimed another entry gate at the airport has been opened that should quicken the process, but admitted they do not know how long it will take to get everyone out.
'The ability to provide close air support is something that needs to be immediate if a condition required that,' Gen. Taylor said of the F-18 jets. Kirby called it the 'prudent thing to do' but claimed the situation in Kabul is not hostile.
The logistical nightmare on the ground is becoming more dangerous by the minute for those who are trapped; Westerns face the possibility of becoming hostages and Afghan natives who helped in the war by serving as translators or interpreters face near certain death if the Taliban finds out who they are.
Then there are the tens of thousands of women and girls who are petrified of what will happen to them once the Western forces leave for good and they are left to live under Sharia law.
On Wednesday, Afghan mothers who can't get through handed their babies over the wall to Western soldiers to be put on flights without them. American troops have been seen helping some women over the barbed wire, while shouting at others to stand back.
'The US military footprint in Kabul is we have 5,200 troops on the ground. Kabul airport remains secure and open.
'There are multiple gates that are now open and have entry which will help expedite processing,' Army Major. Gen. Hank Taylor said at a briefing on Thursday morning.
The Taliban, which is controlling all of the city's streets, has promised foreign governments that they will let through all Westerners and civilians who want to board flights.
One of the F-18 Super Hornet jets that performed an overwatch flight on Kabul on Wednesday night is shown taking off from USS Ronald Reagan. The jets are on standby to provide support should the on-the-ground commander order it
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby (left) and Army. Gen. Major. Hank Taylor (right) said on Thursday morning they didn't know how many Americans were left in Kabul and that they are working as quickly as they can to get people out. There are thousands waiting to be processed for evacuation flights but a combination of chaotic crowds at the airport and Taliban road blocks are halting the process
Crowds of Afghans at the airport on Thursday were exposed to teargas from US troops trying to control the thousands waiting to be put on evacuation flights
ABC journalists were blocked from even getting to the airport on Thursday despite having paperwork proving who they were. The Taliban's leaders say they are letting people through but the fighters on the ground aren't following the orders strictly and are blocking many of those trying to gain access
The Taliban fighters didn't let the journalists through and shots started ringing out in the background
The ABC team tried to reason with the Taliban fighters, saying they had permission to get to the airport, but the fighters became increasingly agitated
The journalists were forced back into their cars and are still stuck in Kabul, along with other Westerners who can't get to the airport because the Taliban is blocking them, despite repeated promises from foreign governments that they will be allowed through
On Wednesday, ABC journalists were among those who were blocked from getting to the airport by two armed Taliban fighters who questioned their credentials then forced them back into their vehicles. It was caught on camera and aired on Good Morning America on Thursday.
Paul 'Pen' Farthing, a former Marine who now lives in Kabul with his wife, described the scene as a 'clusterf***', telling DailyMail.com: 'Two ex-pats - one British and one Norwegian - have already been forced to turn back this morning because they can't get through.
'And last night a UN convoy carrying various foreign nationals, who had been working in Afghanistan for NGOs, had to turn round because of the sheer volume of people on the street.'
An Afghan-Australian trying to leave the country also told the ABC that it is 'not possible' to get to the airport today because there is 'lots of firing' and 'too many people' while Max Sangeen, a Canadian interpreter, said his wife and children - including a 20-day-old baby - are trapped in Kabul despite having proper documents.
It is not clear what, if anything, western troops can do to help.
The New York Times has been able to get 28 of its journalists and their families out and a CBS reporter was able to get out on Tuesday on a plane with Afghan refugees.
Between Tuesday and Wednesday, US forces only removed 2,000 people on 18 jets that could have taken 10,000.
US troops stand guard on the wall at Kabul airport as desperate women, children and men try to climb over in a bid for freedom. It's unclear if this child was lifted over. Some have been, while others with paperwork can't even get to the gate
A young girl is passed to US soldiers guarding Hamid Karzai airport amid a desperate scramble to get out of the country by tens of thousands of Afghans who don't want to be ruled by the Taliban
Babies were thrown over barbed wire towards troops at Kabul airport in a desperate bid to get them out of the country as the west's ignominious exit from Afghanistan continued
A British soldier carries an Afghan girl away from crowds at the gate, as Defence Secretary Ben Wallace today urged people not to pass their children to troops because they will not get a seat on flights out
President Joe Biden is shrugging off criticism of his handling of the crisis and said in an interview that aired Thursday that there was no way out of the region without 'chaos'.
He has been universally condemned for not ensuring that American citizens and Afghan allies were safely removed from the region before fully winding down the military's presence there after 20 years.
Both he and Pentagon bosses say they were stunned by how quickly the Taliban moved through the country and seized control of the capital after American troops withdrew.
Biden's justification for it is that Afghan troops, who the US propped up for decades, should have fought for their country themselves.
Paul 'Pen' Farthing, a former Marine who now lives in Kabul with his wife, described the scene as a 'clusterf***', telling MailOnline: 'Two ex-pats - one British and one Norwegian - have already been forced to turn back this morning because they can't get through.
On the other side of the airport's walls are US cargo jets and military planes belonging to other countries that are there to evacuate people but are leaving half-full because people cannot get through to board them
Satellite images have revealed the extent of the crisis at Kabul airport, with cars crammed up against the southern civilian entrance and northern military entrance that can be seen from satellites
Taliban fighters have now encircled the airport in Kabul and are deciding who gets to come in and who has to stay out. Checkpoints have been set up on both the civilian south side of the airport and the military north side, with gunshots fired in both locations to keep crowds back
'And last night a UN convoy carrying various foreign nationals, who had been working in Afghanistan for NGOs, had to turn round because of the sheer volume of people on the street.'
Such is the desperation among crowds at the airport that women have resorted to passing babies over barbed wire to soldiers in a vain attempt to get them out of the country.
An Afghan-Australian trying to leave the country also told the ABC that it is 'not possible' to get to the airport today because there is 'lots of firing' and 'too many people' while Max Sangeen, a Canadian interpreter, said his wife and children - including a 20-day-old baby - are trapped in Kabul despite having proper documents.
But it is not clear what, if anything, western troops can do to help.
There are 4,500 American troops on the ground in Kabul but they are guarding the airport and cannot go beyond its walls to extract US citizens from the city or intervene with the Taliban's reign.
On Wednesday night, the State Department updated its guidance to tell all remaining Americans in the city to get to the airport now, but the guidance said the government couldn't be responsible for their safety getting there.
There are grave concerns for the safety of women and girls, and many are afraid to leave their homes to even attempt to get to the airport for fear of being snatched by the Taliban first.
Despite the fears, Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Ruth Sherman claimed on Wednesday that Americans were being able to get to the airport.
Farthing slammed the comments as naive, saying: 'Nobody can actually reach [the processing centre] because of the crowds and the chaos surrounding it.
'It's a lottery whether you get picked to get through the security. At the moment people who have seats booked on flights out of the airport are being turned back while others who storm fencing or are picked completely at random are getting on planes.
'I'm livid at the Government's mishandling of this, they need to take a moment, get their heads together, and work out a way with the Americans to help fly out ex-pats and those who need safety- like those who work for me - because otherwise we are looking at the worst humanitarian disaster in Afghanistan for a generation.'
Fawad Ahmadzai, another Canadian interpreter, said he and his family - a wife and four children - had been forced to 'fight' their way through guards to get to the airport terminal - saying they ignored his Canadian travel documents, beat him, and shot at him.
'I was waving at them that I am a Canadian citizen,' he said. 'They didn't even care about which passport I carry, they would only push us and hit us, and shooting ahead of us, scaring us so that we would leave.'
German national Vanessa Faizi, who had become trapped in Kabul after going to Afghanistan to visit family, spoke of violence at the airport before she managed to get a flight out.
'We saw children being trampled on,' she told journalists at an airport back in Germany.
British officials have urged Afghan women not to pass babies to soldiers, saying unaccompanied children will not be put on flights.
UK defence secretary Ben Wallace said Taliban guards are allowing people with travel documents through checkpoints and that British flights are not leaving the country empty - insisting that 'not a single seat is wasted'.
He then revealed that 120 people were evacuated from Afghanistan this morning with another 138 due to follow later - but with military transports able to carry up to 150, it means there will have been empty seats.
He did not say where the children will end up instead.
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