In pictures: The Kabul evacuation mission
Thousands of people have been evacuated from Afghanistan since the Taliban seized control in mid-August. But many will be left behind and face a high risk of retribution as the airlift enters its final days.
US helicopters evacuate embassy personnel
As the Taliban entered the capital, a US Chinook military helicopter evacuates American employees from the US Embassy in Kabul on August 15, 2021. Germany has also sent a pair of smaller helicopters to Kabul to assist in evacuation efforts.
The struggle to reach Kabul's airport
Thousands of people rushed to the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on August 16 and the following days with hopes of leaving Afghanistan. Dramatic scenes played out as people tried to access the airport and the relative safety from the Taliban it appeared to offer.
Desperate to escape the Taliban
Attempts to flee Afghanistan led hundreds of people to run alongside planes in attempts to climb aboard. The dangerous undertaking led to several deaths as people fell off planes while they were taking off, and human remains were also found in one plane's landing gear wheel well.
Two decades later, Taliban back in control
After battling Afghan and international troops for two decades, the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan with apparent ease after troops from the United States, Germany and other countries began to withdraw. These Taliban fighters patrol a Kabul district market days after taking over the Afghan capital.
Safe — for the time being
People packed their way into any flights that would bring them out of Afghanistan. The people in this German Air Force transport plane flew to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Most of the military planes leaving Kabul head to Uzbekistan, Doha or Islamabad where passengers are processed and travel on to other destinations.
A helping hand
Afghan refugees at the Ramstein US Air Base in Germany are in dire need of supplies. The Air Base is providing temporary lodging for thousands of evacuees from Afghanistan as part of Operation Allies Refuge.
Life under Taliban rule
Burqa-clad Afghan women shop at a market in Kabul on August 23 — days after the Taliban's takeover of the country. The International Organization for Migration issued an urgent appeal for $24 million to help support the more than 5 million people displaced in Afghanistan and living in "extremely precarious" conditions.
Safe passage
A US Marine escorts a child to his family during the evacuation operation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on August 24, 2021. US President Joe Biden confirmed the United States will pull out all troops by August 31.
Thousands will be left behind
Even as thousands of people continued to gather at Kabul's airport, the US State Department warned Americans against traveling to the airport. Explosions later tore through an area just outside Hamid Karzai International Airport, killing scores of people. The acting US ambassador to Afghanistan said "there undoubtedly will be" some at-risk Afghans unable to leave the country.
Exhausted from a harrowing escape
Many of those who managed to flee Afghanistan have reported mixed emotions, saying they feel lucky to have left safely but still despair over the fates of the thousands of people unable to escape from Taliban rule. This family was evacuated from Kabul and is headed to a US refugee processing center.