Kabul evacuation flights take off EMPTY as Taliban close off airport and US general warns ‘overwhelming force’ will be used if fighters interfere with evacuation

Kabul evacuation flights take off EMPTY as Taliban close off airport and US general warns ‘overwhelming force’ will be used if fighters interfere with evacuation – as women beg soldiers for help through gates

• Tens of thousands of desperate Afghans are trying to evacuate from Kabul’s airport, but are being held back by a Taliban ring of steel with barely anybody being allowed through   
• Women were filmed begging US troops to put them on flights home, shouting ‘the Taliban are coming for me’
• But flights are taking off nearly-empty, with one German plane with space for 150 taking just seven people 
• Another Australian aircraft, with room for 120, took just 26 as NGOs warned people cannot get to the planes 

Evacuation flights out of Kabul are taking off almost empty despite tens of thousands of Afghans trying to flee the country after the Taliban formed a ring of steel around the airport and barred most people from reaching it.

One Australian Hercules C-130 aircraft with room for 120 people took off with just 26 on board today, the government has confirmed, while a German Airbus A-400M with room for 150 was carrying just seven people when it departed yesterday.

That is despite there being around 50,000 Afghans gathered at the airport who have been promised sanctuary by western nations. One particularly harrowing piece of footage showed women pleading with US troops that ‘the Taliban are coming for me’.

America, Britain, Canada, and Germany are among those who have pledged to take tens of thousands of Afghan refugees each as part of a ‘big-hearted’ response to the collapse of their country that has failed to materialise.

However, according to a British Ex-Pat and former Royal Marine, British and other foreign nationals are struggling to get through into Kabul airport, and are even being turned away.

‘It is still a crush of desperate people at Kabul airport. Ex-pats still being turned away. Somebody get a grip, Paul ‘Pen’ Farthing tweeted Wednesday afternoon. Calling on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, US President Joe Biden and other world leaders, he added: ‘Somebody get a grip… I will not stop until you get it right.’

Most of those at the airport do not have travel documents, witnesses told MailOnline, and with most embassies closed or moved within the airport perimeter they now have almost no way to obtain them. Meanwhile, those with documents say they daren’t go near the airstrip for fear Islamist guards will haul them away.

And one airport worker told MailOnline that, even with correct documents, it took them two days to reach the terminal building after passing through five checkpoints along the way.

Pressed over why Australia is not taking more migrants today, defence minister Peter Dutton rubbished other country’s promises to take tens of thousands – saying bluntly: ‘I don’t think that is going to happen.’

Boris Johnson was among those making promises on Wednesday, saying that 25,000 Afghan refugees will be allowed to come to the UK over the next five years. But he was slapped down by Kier Starmer who said people are physically unable to board the evacuation flights.

Meanwhile Sir Nick Carter, head of the defence forces, said the UK will attempt to fly out 1,000 people today on seven planes – despite having managed to extract just a few hundred people so-far this week.

Meanwhile Sir Nick Carter, head of the defence forces, said the UK will attempt to fly out 1,000 people today on seven planes – despite having managed to extract just a few hundred people so-far this week.