Westerners head to Kabul airport as they flee advancing Taliban forces

File picture of Kabul Airport (Dan Kitwood/PA)

The sound of US military helicopters whisking diplomats to Kabul’s airport on Sunday punctuated a frantic rush by thousands of other foreigners and Afghans to flee to safety as well, as a stunningly swift Taliban takeover reached Afghanistan’s capital.

US reports of gunfire at the airport threatened to shut down one of the last avenues of escape in an ever-more chaotic and compressed evacuation.