Tens of thousands of people have rushed to Kabul and are surrounding the capital city’s international airport, in the hopes of getting on an evacuation flight out of Afghanistan.

The situation has become so dire at least seven people have died in the chaos and soldiers are begging people to stay away from the airport in an attempt to calm the situation.

US President Joe Biden ordered commercial airlines on Monday to help evacuate the thousands of people hoping to get out, with a number of companies flying from defence bases in the Middle East back to the US.

The US military has overseen the evacuations of about 30,000 people since the Taliban marched into Kabul and took effective control of Afghanistan on August 15, following a stunningly swift rout of government forces.

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Australia has managed to evacuate more than 1000 people, including 450 people overnight.

“That includes not only Australians but includes a large number of Afghan locally-engaged employees and humanitarian visa holders we have been able to get out of the country,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison told reporters earlier today.

“In addition to that there are many women and children we have been able to get out of Afghanistan in what has been some of the most extreme conditions our people have ever operated in, if not worse.

“I want to thank them for the work they are doing on the ground. Incredibly difficult work under extraordinary stress.

“The decisions they have having to make, the care they are having to provide has been truly extraordinary in the best Australian tradition.”

The Taliban, infamous for an ultra-strict interpretation of sharia law during their initial 1996-2001 rule of Afghanistan, have repeatedly vowed a softer version this time.

But terrified Afghans continue to try and flee, overwhelming the US-led military operation at Kabul airport and leading to tragic scenes in which at least seven people have died.

The Taliban’s victory ended two decades of war as they took advantage of the decision to withdraw nearly all US troops from the country.

Mr Biden had to redeploy thousands back to Afghanistan to oversee the evacuations. He has insisted he wants to end the US military presence and the airlifts by August 31.

But with the European Union and Britain saying it would be impossible to get everyone out by then, Biden is under pressure to extend the deadline.

Speaking at the White House, Mr Biden said on Sunday he hoped the airlift would not be extended, but said talks were underway to explore that possibility.

“There’s discussions going among us and the military about extending,” Mr Biden said.

He acknowledged the searing scenes at the airport, which have included babies and children being passed to soldiers over razor-wire fences and men clinging to the outside of departing planes.

But he said they were part of the cost of departure.

“There is no way to evacuate this many people without pain and loss and heartbreaking images you see,” he said.

In an effort to ramp up the airlift, the US government ordered six major commercial airlines to fly back to the United States with those who have been evacuated from Kabul to US bases in the Gulf and Europe.

Overcrowding at those bases has slowed down – and occasionally stopped – the flights from Kabul.

Mr Biden spoke after the Taliban, who have been holding talks with elders and politicians to set up a government, slammed the evacuation.

“America, with all its power and facilities … has failed to bring order to the airport,” Taliban official Amir Khan Mutaqi said.

“There is peace and calm all over the country, but there is chaos only at Kabul airport.”

In the streets of the capital, the Taliban have indeed enforced a calm of a kind, with their armed forces patrolling the streets and manning checkpoints.

Visually, they have also been looking to stamp their authority, ensuring the tricoloured nation flag is replaced with their white banner.

– With AFP