Chaos at Kabul airport as people try to flee country after Taliban takeover

US troops were forced to fire warning shots at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul to prevent crowds of desperate citizens running to board planes as the Taliban took over the Afghan capital city.

Gunfire could be heard in several videos on social media. The desperate scenes include crowds hovering around jets and clambering up staircases.

There was chaos and confusion at the Kabul airport as thousands of Afghans crowded the tarmac trying to catch a flight out of Afghanistan.

Several videos have emerged of people running onto the airport runways and trying to board flights.

The Taliban insurgents swept into Afghanistan's capital on Sunday after the government collapsed and President Ashraf Ghani joined fellow citizens and foreigners to leave the country.

Over 60 countries including the US, United Kingdom, Japan, Germany and Canada urged ‘all parties’ to safeguard the departure of foreign nationals and Afghans who wish to leave the war-torn country, and said that roads, airports and border crossing must remain open.