VIDEO: US military helicopters chase away crowds of panicked Afghans swarming its planes

• The US military sent in helicopters to chase panicked Afghans off the runway.
• The Afghans were swarming the large C-17 airlift planes, clinging to them as they tried to move.
• The desperate scenes, caught on video, come as the Taliban seizes control of Afghanistan.

US military helicopters chased away crowds of panicked Afghans swarming its large airlift planes, clearing the runway as people desperately looked for a way out of the country following the Taliban takeover.

The scene at Hamid Karzai International Airport in the Afghan capital city of Kabul was captured in videos that surfaced on social media Monday.

In another angle, the apparent AH-64 Apache attack helicopters can be seen flying just a few feet off the ground in an attempt to drive crowds away from the aircraft as it moves down the runway.

The New York Times reported on Monday that thousands of Afghans flooded the airport, where many swarmed the massive C-17 airlift planes, clinging to them. The US military reportedly sent in the helicopters in response.

In some cases, people appeared to continue to cling to the large aircraft even after takeoff, and videos have surfaced that reportedly show people falling to their deaths.

These tragic scenes from the airport in Kabul come after the Taliban entered the capital on Sunday following a sweeping nationwide offensive. The Taliban insurgents seized city after city and routed the Afghan National Defense and Security Force. The Afghan president has fled the country, and the US-backed Afghan government has effectively collapsed.

The fall of Afghanistan into the Taliban's hands comes a little over one month after President Joe Biden said that "the likelihood there's going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely."

The Biden administration opted to uphold the previous administration's deal with the Taliban and withdraw all US forces from Afghanistan. But what was intended to be a safe and orderly withdrawal has become increasingly chaotic over the past couple of days.

At the airport in Kabul, an evacuation supported by thousands of US troops who were rushed into the country as the security situation rapidly deteriorated is underway. The effort is focused on moving US personnel, as well as international partners, out of the country.

The US military has warned the Taliban not to interfere with the evacuation operations happening at the airport, stressing that it will defend itself as needed.