US Planes Carry Hundreds of Afghans Leaving Kabul

INTERNATIONAL    |  KABUL       -      More than 600 Afghans, including children, are crammed onto the floor of a US military plane that left Kabul after the capital was taken over by Taliban insurgents.

A photo showing Afghan civilians - some carrying suitcases, others holding baby bottles - inside a C-17 cargo plane has gone viral on social media.

A US official said about 640 people scrambled to board the plane on Sunday, as thousands of people desperate to leave Afghanistan flocked to Kabul airport.

"The number of passengers which is usually not that high is a result of the security situation and needs to be decided immediately by the crew ensuring they are quickly removed from the country," the official said.

According to the plane's maker, Boeing, the C-17 Globemaster III can carry 134 passengers, including 54 people in the side seats and 80 people on the floor.

Many Afghans tried to climb onto planes through half-open doors before the plane took off for Qatar with the most passengers ever carried by such a plane, US defense and security website Defense One said in a news report.

Other sad videos and photos emerged from Kabul airport, where witnesses said several people had died, and showed Afghans climbing onto planes and hanging from landing gear in an attempt to get out of the country.

For some observers, the image inside the C-17 is a sign of the hope and courage of the evacuation crew.

"Out of all the failures this week, some good is seen in this (picture)," said Blake Herzinger, a Singapore-based security analyst, who shared the photo on Twitter.

But for others, the photo is a reminder of the disastrous evacuation efforts after the US withdrew its troops from Afghanistan after 20 years of war and the Taliban seized power in days, not months, as US intelligence predicted.

"We need more such aircraft," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch.