There’s a humanitarian nightmare happening right now outside the Kabul airport.

There have been thousands trying to get into the airport but the Taliban are ringing the airport, beating some of the people on road, so it’s a terrifying gauntlet.

*GRAPHIC WARNING* Taliban fighters use gunfire, whips, sticks and sharp objects to maintain crowd control over thousands of Afghans who continue to wait for a way out, on airport road. At least half dozen were wounded while I was there, including a woman and her child. #Kabul pic.twitter.com/a2KzNPx07R

— Marcus Yam 文火 (@yamphoto) August 17, 2021

But even if they get past the Taliban and have their paperwork, there are so many people packed outside the airport gates, you still have to get through all those people.

The Long War Journal’s Bill Roggio reported on some of the dangers there yesterday, with shots being fired outside the gates.

This is what it looks like outside the north gate at the airport in Kabul. I won't mention why this location is important. I will say that the @CENTCOM commander, who agreed to allow this airport to be the primary/only evacuation point, should be dismissed/replaced immediately. pic.twitter.com/yfvWRJaJ7n

— Bill Roggio (@billroggio) August 18, 2021

Taliban are all around the Kabul airport. Interpreter with a visa told me he can't get to the terminal. pic.twitter.com/uN4EkBd25n

— Ben Packham (@bennpackham) August 18, 2021

"THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT CANNOT ENSURE SAFE PASSAGE TO THE HAMID KARZAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT,” the US Embassy in Kabul told American citizens in a security alert today, per @kylieatwood, adding space on evac flights will now be available on “first come, first serve basis.”

— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) August 18, 2021

There are people trying to do heroic things there on the ground, having been left to deal with a horrible situation by the Biden administration. State Department official Wendy Sherman is saying right now on Fox that people are getting through despite it all.

There has been a lot of striking video over this debacle starting with the people clinging to the wheels of the C-17 which seems a long time ago at this point.

But there was a video being shared today that was especially affecting. You may know who Matt Zeller is because we ran a story on him Monday, he’s the former CIA analyst and veteran who called out Biden on MSNBC when they tried to clean up Biden’s speech.

U.S. Army veteran Matt Zeller goes off on MSNBC about Biden’s remarks on Afghanistan:

Zeller: “I feel like I watched a different speech than the rest of you guys. I was appalled.” pic.twitter.com/eGC5tMBvy4

— Whitney Robertson (@whitneyleerob) August 16, 2021

“I feel like I watched a different speech than the rest of you guys. I was appalled. There was such a profound bold-faced lie in that speech. The idea we planned for every contingency? I have been personally trying to tell this administration since it took office. I have been trying to tell our government for years this was coming. We sent them plan after plan on how to evacuate these people. Nobody listened to us,” Zeller said.

Zeller has been gathering a lot of information on what has been happening on the ground. He said that people at the gates were passing babies and little kids forward through the crowd to ensure that they got in, ahead of the parents still in the line.

People are so desperate to escape the #Taliban that they’re passing babies and kids forward to the gate at #Kabul airport. #kabulairport #AfghanEvac pic.twitter.com/6NSlIffrD1

— Matt Zeller (@mattczeller) August 18, 2021

A truly heart-wrenching video. Sky News reported the parents were throwing their children over the airport barrier to the British and Americans, begging them to save them. Many of the parents are those who worked for or helped the West but they are putting their kids first to at least save them.

As I hold my baby right now, I can’t imagine the agony these parents must be feeling to pass their babies to the gate in hopes that the babies will escape #Afghanistan @cvpayne @IWF https://t.co/M8WlvgFfLU

— Patrice Lee Onwuka 🇫🇰🇺🇸 (@PatricePinkFile) August 18, 2021

I’m holding my 2-week-old baby girl and trying to imagine the kind of fear and desperation it takes for a mother to pass her child to a stranger to try and save them. And I just can’t. https://t.co/5XaHCxqOw9

— Brittany Hughes (@RealBrittHughes) August 18, 2021

This is the one that broke me. The inside of Kabul airport may be under control, but the outside is another matter. https://t.co/36dan2eZ9m

— Emily Zanotti (@emzanotti) August 18, 2021