Three stowaways 'fall to their deaths from plane' and five are killed at airport as increasingly desperate Afghans climb on MOVING US Air Force jet as they flee from Taliban

 

Eight people have died at Kabul airport where thousands of desperate Afghans have clambered onto moving military planes and U.S. troops have fired warning shots into the air amid a chaotic scramble to flee the Taliban.

Three stowaways are believed to have plunged to their deaths, with footage showing bodies falling from the underside of a hulking USAF transport jet as it climbed into the skies over the fallen city on Monday. Further images later showed mutilated corpses strewn across a rooftop.

Earlier US soldiers fired warning shots to deter people from forcing their way onto a plane as video showed hundreds chasing after a transport plane, darting beneath its wheels and clinging to the fuselage as it hurtled down the runway at Hamid Karzai International Airport. 

'The crowd was out of control,' a U.S. official told Reuters. 'The firing was only done to defuse the chaos.' 

It is unclear whether the five who died at the airport had been shot or killed in a stampede. 

Joe Biden's calamitous surrender of Afghanistan and his 'shameful' silence since Kabul fell has been widely condemned by all sides of the media in the US and the UK. 

The President has failed to speak publicly on the chaos but issued a statement on Saturday which ridiculously blamed Donald Trump for an earlier deal which he says handed too much power to the Taliban.

The Wall Street Journal condemned Biden's statement as 'washing his hands', saying it should 'go down as one of the most shameful in history by a Commander in Chief at such a moment of American retreat'. 

Meanwhile a New York Post editorial said Biden's claims that he 'inherited' his predecessor's withdrawal plans were a 'lie' and the situation is 'as humiliating an end as the rooftop scramble in Saigon in 1975'.  

The Taliban declared victory from the presidential palace on Sunday following a blistering advance across the country which was precisely what experts and politicians had warned would happen if Washington went ahead with its hasty retreat.

One of the terror chieftains proclaimed from the palace, 'Praise God, I was in Guantanamo for eight years', as he sat at the president's table surrounded by henchmen strapped with AK-47s. 

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday that the U.S. decision to withdraw had 'accelerated' the crisis that risked creating 'a breeding ground for terror.'

However, the Taliban has been on a charm offensive, pledging that no harm will come to any foreign citizens or embassy staff as it seeks formal recognition from the international community. 

Around 30,000 US personnel were in the country as of two weeks ago and 6,000 US troops have been dispatched to ensure they return home.

The last U.S. officials were flying out of the country today as: 

• Taliban fighters were seen patrolling the streets of Kabul as thousands of hopeful Afghans gathered on the runway at Hamid Karzai airport trying desperately to escape from Afghanistan;  
• The US ambassador and embassy staff fled Afghanistan after Taliban forces stormed Kabul;    
• President Biden dispatched 6,000 troops to help evacuate US staff 'and other allied personnel';
• PM Boris Johnson said said the US decision to withdraw from Afghanistan had 'accelerated' the crisis; 
• President Biden defended the withdrawal of US troops and blamed his predecessor Donald Trump for a deal that left the warlords 'in the strongest position militarily since 2001'; 
• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken insisted the scene in Afghanistan is not comparable to the fall of Saigon as he diverted blame for the Taliban takeover on Republicans;
• German Chancellor Angela Merkel said troops would be deployed to Afghanistan to evacuate German citizens and Afghans in danger from the Taliban. 

• Almost all major checkpoints in Kabul were under Taliban control by Monday morning and Afghanistan's Civil Aviation Authority issued an advisory saying the 'civilian side' of the airport had been 'closed until further notice' and that the military controlled the airspace. 

  Taliban officials said everyone would be allowed to return home from Kabul airport if they decide to stay in the country and promised civilians would not be harmed. The group previously said westerners would be allowed to leave the country but that Afghans would be barred from departing. 

  US troops are guarding the airport and have taken over air traffic control, but all non-military flights are grounded. Early Monday morning, flight-tracking data showed no immediate commercial flights over the country. 

  In the capital, a tense calm set in, with most people hiding in their homes as the Taliban deployed fighters at major intersections.

  There were scattered reports of looting and armed men knocking on doors and gates, and there was less traffic than usual on eerily quiet streets. Fighters could be seen searching vehicles at one of the city's main squares.

  Many fear chaos, after the Taliban freed thousands of prisoners and the police simply melted away, or a return to the kind of brutal rule the Taliban imposed when it was last in power.

  They raced to Kabul's international airport, where the 'civilian side' was closed until further notice, according to Afghanistan's Civil Aviation Authority. The military was put in control of the airspace.

  Massouma Tajik, a 22-year-old data analyst, described scenes of panic at the airport, where she was hoping to board an evacuation flight.

  After waiting six hours, she heard shots from outside, where a crowd of men and women were trying to climb aboard a plane. She said U.S. troops sprayed gas and fired into the air to disperse the crowds after people scaled the walls and swarmed onto the tarmac. Gunfire could be heard in the voice messages she sent to The Associated Press.

  Shafi Arifi, who had a ticket to travel to Uzbekistan on Sunday, was unable to board her plane because it was packed with people who had raced across the tarmac and climbed aboard, with no police or airport staff in sight.

  'There was no room for us to stand,' said the 24-year-old. 'Children were crying, women were shouting, young and old men were so angry and upset, no one could hear each other. There was no oxygen to breathe.'

  After another woman fainted and was carried off the plane, Arifi gave up and went back home.  

  President Ashraf Ghani fled from the country on Sunday as the Islamists entered Kabul virtually unopposed, saying he wanted to avoid bloodshed.

  Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen said in a message on Twitter their fighters were under strict orders not to harm anyone.