The planned evacuation from Afghanistan of personnel from the U.S., NATO and allied nations took a dramatic turn over the weekend of August 14-15 as the arrival of Taliban forces around the capital, Kabul, sparked a panicked reaction. The lightning gains made by the Taliban in the previous days had resulted in the rest of the country coming under its control, and had taken U.S. and allied commanders by surprise.
Faced with Taliban forces entering the capital and the flight of President Ashraf Ghani to the UAE, a mass evacuation was ordered, along with the rapid deployment of further troops to secure the operation. The mass airlift began on August 15, with helicopters such as U.S. Army CH-47s and Department of State Air Wing CH-46s ferrying U.S. and other personnel from embassies and key installations to Hamid Karzai International Airport for onward transport, mostly to other locations in the region, such as Qatar.
