Crowds of Afghani people surround an airplane at Kabul's airport.
Satellite image ©2021 Maxar Technologies
  • Satellite images show crowds of Afghani people attempting to flee via Kabul's airport.
  • The Taliban quickly took over Afghanistan as the US completed its withdrawal of military forces.
  • Thousands of Afghani people, former military interpreters, and families are trying to escape the country.

Thousands of people in Afghanistan fled to the Hamid Karzai Airport in Kabul on Monday in a last-ditch effort to flee the country after the Taliban overtook the region at a record pace.

Previous photos and videos showed large numbers of Afghani people blocking off runways and latching onto US Air Force planes attempting to take off -and some falling off mid-flight. But new satellite images from Maxar Technologies reveal the scale of the humanitarian crisis as people try to escape Afghanistan.

Large numbers of Afghani people congregated at Kabul's airstrip on Monday.
Satellite image ©2021 Maxar Technologies

The satellite photos also give a glimpse of the chaos outside of the airport as hundreds of vehicles reached a gridlock trying to approach the airfield.

Satellite images show traffic jams near the entrance to Kabul's airport.
Satellite image ©2021 Maxar Technologies

Large crowds of people appear to have abandoned their vehicles entirely in a rush to board some of the final remaining planes leaving Kabul. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said on Monday that all flights at Kabul's airport, both military and civilian, are currently grounded as US soldiers attempt to reestablish a security perimeter around the airport.

Satellite images show large numbers of Afghani people near the entrance to Kabul's airport.
Satellite image ©2021 Maxar Technologies

Once the perimeter is reestablished, it's unclear how long there will be flights out of the country in the near future. The Pentagon announced on Monday that the US military is sending 1,000 more troops to Kabul for a soon-to-be total of 7,000 American soldiers in Afghanistan's capital.

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