The US and Germany are urging their citizens in Afghanistan not to travel to Kabul airport, with the US citing "potential security threats" at the airport gates – and the Pentagon confirming reports of Taliban fighters beating and harassing those trying to flee. The US says it has evacuated 17,000 people from Kabul since it fell to the Taliban – but huge crowds are still massing at the airport gates. The US is considering calling in commercial airlines to help airlift-out the thousands of people waiting to leave.
But the US is due to end evacuations on the final troop withdrawal date - August 31st.
The situation is growing more dire by the day for those in Afghanistan trying to escape life under Taliban rule. Thousands of people have gathered outside the airport in Kabul for days, in terrible crushing conditions and searing temperatures. But the situation is no easier or less dangerous at night. Reports say dozens of people have now been killed outside the airport compound.
And it's not just those trying to leave the country suffering. With banks still closed the country's economy has stalled. People nationwide are reaching breaking point. For many in the western city of Herat, absolute poverty is now their biggest fear.
But the question now is what kind of government will be formed. On Saturday Taliban's co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar flew into Kabul for talks with jihadi leaders, elders and politicians.
The rush to get people out is one thing, but the speed and ferocity of the Taliban's advance has left NATO powers struggling to formulate their response. Speaking near Madrid, at a new temporary refugee reception center for Afghan EU workers, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the diplomatic tight-rope walk.
Meanwhile those Afghans who have made it out of the country are making their way around the world.
The US is flying many of those airlifted out to an American airbase in southern Germany. They are being prepared and processed at the Rammstein airbase for their onward journey on to the US.
While their temporary accommodation is not ideal, the conditions are still a lot better than those outside Kabul airport - where people continue to hope that they too can make it out. But one part of Afghanistan is not controlled by the Taliban. The Panjshir Valley northeast of Kabul which has been commandeered by the son of a legendary fighter who successfully defended the mountainous region against past attacks by both the Soviets and the Taliban.
Ahmad Massoud was born in Panjshir Province, northeast of Kabul.
Its steep mountains and narrow valleys have kept its population relatively safe through decades of war. The Soviet Union came with tanks and bombers and couldn't seize control. Even the Taliban were kept out during the civil war of the 1990s. Now it's the last Taliban-free area of the country.
Massoud's father, Ahmad Shah Massoud, also known as the Lion of Panjshir, is a national hero in Afghanistan. For 22 years he fought for his province, eventually co-founding the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance. In 2001, Massoud warned the world that Osama bin Laden might use Afghanistan as a base to launch terrorist attacks. Two days before the World Trade Center collapsed, he was killed by al-Qaeda agents posing as journalists.
But his legacy didn't die with him. His son Ahmad Massoud says he is ready to follow in his father's footsteps. Like his father, he is calling on Western nations to help, saying his forces need ammunition and other supplies.
Massoud isn't the only big name holding out in Panjshir. Amrullah Saleh, First Vice President in the recently ousted government, has also taken refuge in the province. Saleh has said that he is legally in charge of the country.
But even with the constitution and the legacy of a famous anti-Taliban fighter on their side, analysts say the Panjshir holdouts are unlikely to present much of a challenge to the Taliban. Massoud has a famous name but few allies, and so far the Western countries haven't shown any signs that they will support an armed resistance.


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