[29][30] Between 14 and 25 August, the US alone evacuated about 82,300 people from Hamid Karzai International Airport,[31] including US citizens, Special Immigrant Visa applicants, and other vulnerable Afghans.

[34] Nonetheless, the Biden administration decided to continue with the planned withdrawal, although it pushed back the completion date first to 11 September 2021 and then to 31 August 2021.

[38] The Afghan National Army, poorly led and impaired by widespread corruption,[39] was left in chaos, having only two units remained operational by mid-August: the 201st Corps and 111th Division, both based in Kabul.

A convoy of armored sport utility vehicles (SUVs) was seen departing the embassy grounds, and an attack helicopter was reportedly seen deploying flares in the area to defend against potential shoot-downs.

[48] Panic spread among the civilian population as the Taliban seized the capital, with many citizens rushing to their homes or to the airport, which remained under NATO control after the Afghan government dissolved.

[51][52] US soldiers hovered helicopters low overhead as crowd control, deployed smoke grenades, and occasionally fired warning shots into the air to disperse people attempting to forcefully board aircraft.

[58] Three bodies, including that of a woman, were also found on the ground outside near the passenger terminal building, but their cause of death was unclear, though some observers speculated they may have died during a stampede.

One Afghan Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano crashed after crossing the border, with Uzbek authorities issuing conflicting reports on the cause.

[65][66][67] The German government announced that it was sending A400M Atlas aircraft with a contingent of paratroopers for evacuations, adding it would not seek the required parliamentary approval for the operation until after the mission was complete.

[68] The Italian government was reported to have transferred its embassy staff as well as the families of 30 Afghan employees to Kabul airport under Carabinieri guard to prepare for evacuation.

[69] India was reported to have had C-17 transport planes prepared to evacuate Indian diplomatic staff, but had anticipated that it would take longer for the Taliban to capture Kabul.

Sullivan told reporters that the Taliban were prepared to "provide the safe passage of civilians to the airport, and we intend to hold them to that commitment" while affirming that the withdrawal deadline remained 31 August.

"[85] On 18 August, it was reported that an Afghan interpreter who had worked for the Australian military had been shot in the leg by the Taliban as he crossed a checkpoint leading to the airport.

[92] French newspaper Libération obtained a confidential United Nations report that found the Taliban had priority lists of individuals to arrest and were also targeting the families of people who had worked with the Afghan government and NATO.

[94] On 20 August, it was reported that the National Directorate of Security's 01 Unit was working alongside NATO forces in the airlift as its members refused to surrender to the Taliban.

[95] On 21 August, Reuters reported that the World Bank's Kabul-based staff and their immediate families were safely evacuated among 350 people aboard a special Pakistan International Airlines flight to Islamabad.

[106] According to Der Spiegel, on the night of 22 August, nine German KSK special forces operators code named "Blue Light" rescued a Munich family of three from a rendezvous point at a gate outside of Kabul Airport.

[116] Meanwhile, CIA Director William Burns held a secret meeting in Kabul with Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar, who had returned to Afghanistan from exile in Qatar to discuss the 31 August withdrawal deadline.

[8] European Union (EU) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) also requested Pakistani authorities to help evacuate their employees and their families in Afghanistan.

[122] Several hundred US military personnel in support roles who were deemed nonessential had withdrawn in the preceding days, while 5,800 US Army soldiers and US Marines remained to guard the airport.

[131] On 26 August, it was reported that US officials in Kabul gave the Taliban a list of names of American citizens, green card holders, and Afghan allies to grant entry into the airport for evacuation.

[135] Australia,[136] Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany,[137] Hungary, the Netherlands, New Zealand,[138] and Poland also announced the end of their evacuations on this day.

[144] The attack was perpetrated by a suicide bomber,[20][145] who detonated a 25-pound explosive vest hidden under clothing, close to a group of US military personnel who were performing security screenings of Afghans hoping to enter the airport.

[143] The majority of those killed were Afghan civilians, but 13 US military personnel (11 Marines, one Army soldier, and one Navy corpsman) and 2 British nationals were also among the dead.

[166] The Taliban, meanwhile, insisted on taking over the security of Hamid Karzai International Airport themselves instead of Turkey, with spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid stating that their own special forces would guarantee its safety.

[169][173][174] A United States official told Reuters that anti-missile defences had intercepted five rockets aimed at the Hamid Karzai International Airport.

[17] In the early hours of 31 August (Kabul time), not long after the final American flight had left, the Taliban marched into the airport, firing their guns into the air in celebration and posing for pictures with abandoned NATO equipment.

[181] Taliban leaders, flanked by the Badri 313 Battalion, then entered the airport to hold a press conference declaring that "Afghanistan is finally free" and that they would shortly be announcing a new government.

[193] On 13 August 2021, the Canadian Government announced it would resettle an additional 20,000 vulnerable Afghans such as women leaders, human rights workers and journalists.

[207] International Monetary Fund's Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva[208] and Asian Development Bank's President Masatsugu Asakawa[209] praised Pakistan's efforts in evacuating the respective financial institution's personnel and their families from Afghanistan.