People fall from planes after Taliban’s Afghanistan takeover

People have been seen falling from planes after clinging to the undercarriage of a US air force plane escaping Taliban-controlled Kabul.

Afghans plummeting to earth after trying to cling to the undercarriage of a US Air Force transport plane has become the defining image of the failed 20-year war in Afghanistan.

As the Taliban claimed victory over the country, thousands of terrified residents desperately attempted a final bid to flee, with US troops forced to fire shots into the air as thousands of Afghans crowded onto the tarmac.

The Taliban were reportedly “barely 100 metres away” with local sources claiming the group were stopping more people from entering the airport.

As this was unfolding the Australian Defence Force was organising a rescue mission to withdrawal 130 people who helped Diggers in their campaign in the South Asian country.

As a US air force transport plane attempted to take off, the C-17 was seen taxiing as an Apache helicopter tried to remove Afghans from the runway.

Shortly after the scenes from the gangway emerged, footage showed Afghans clamouring onto the side of the USAFC-17 and clinging on to its undercarriage as it struggled down the tarmac.

Subsequent footage also emerged showing people falling from the sky.

Online reports indicate at least 12 people were seen holding onto the landing gear as the plane took off.

It appears most of those were young men.

Subsequent footage posted by Aśvaka News Agency, based in Kabul, showed bodies tumbling as the plane took off, and further bodies falling from the sky.

Footage taken in Khairkahana, in the north west of Kabul, showed locals collecting bodies of at least three men who were “clinging to the wheels”. It is believed the bodies fell “on top of people’s homes”.

“One of the locals confirmed this and said that the fall of these people made a loud and terrifying noise,” Aśvaka News Agency said.

There is no official confirmation on whether all incidents are linked.

However, there have been five people confirmed dead from the mayhem at the airport but how they died has not been confirmed.

People surround the plane on the tarmac before it took off.

In a statement, Australia’s Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the “situation on the ground in Kabul, as in the rest of Afghanistan, is evolving rapidly”. She confirmed over 130 Australians are still in Afghanistan, working in the UN, NGOs, and elsewhere, and “we are working to bring them and their families home.

“We are closely connected to the US, UK, Canada, and other allies and partners,” she said.

“As a partner committed for many years to helping Afghanistan build its future, we are deeply concerned at the potential for further loss of life and suffering.

“The Taliban must cease all violence against civilians, and adhere to international humanitarian law and the human rights all Afghans are entitled to expect, in particular women and girls.”

Meanwhile in the US, President Joe Biden was nowhere to be seen in Washington DC, instead leaving for Camp David, the presidential retreat, on Thursday and remained there.