‘Run for your life’: how papers around the world covered the chaos in Kabul

The fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban has dominated news coverage around the world, with some striking front pages conveying the shocking turn of events and chaos in the capital, Kabul.

The Daily Mirror has an incredible picture of Afghans crammed into a US Globemaster transport aircraft leaving Kabul with the headline “Desperate”.

The Guardian’s splash headline says “Chaos in Kabul as thousands struggle to flee the Taliban” with a dramatic picture of crowds of Afghans running beneath a US transporter plane on the tarmac of the international airport.

It’s the same picture in the Times in London but with the headline “Race to escape Kabul carnage”.

In France, the newspaper Libération has a picture of Afghans trying to climb the perimeter wall at the airport with the headline “Afghanistan: sauve qui peut” (“Afghanistan: run for your life”).

In the United States, where the inquest into how Afghanistan was allowed to fall back into the hands of Islamist militants is just beginning, Monday’s edition of the New York Times has a striking picture of Taliban fighters on an armoured vehicle in the streets of Kabul.

“Taliban capture Kabul, stunning US, as 20-year effort unravels in days”, the headline across the top of the page reads.

The Washington Post headline simply says “Afghanistan falls to the Taliban”.

The American armed forces daily paper, the Stars and Stripes, carries a picture of an American helicopter flying across the rooftops of Kabul. “It’s over”, the headline reads.

The Middle East English-language newspaper, Arab News, leads its Tuesday edition with “7 dead in airport mayhem as thousands flee Taliban takeover”.

President Joe Biden’s defence of his decision to withdraw American troops makes the front of some papers in the UK and elsewhere, with the headline in the Daily Telegraph reading “Biden defends America’s flight”.

The Sun carries a picture of Biden at a meeting table and the headline “Joke Biden” alongside a subhead saying “Prez ‘surprised’ by rout”.

The Daily Mail headline reads “Biden: it’s Afghans own fault”, while its columnist Richard Littlejohn says the war on terror has ended as it began with “bodies falling from the sky and America humiliated”.

In Spain, El Mundo chooses a similar line from Biden’s address on Monday. “Biden: ‘Afghans don’t want to fight’”, the headline says.

The Daily Express in London focuses on the UK angle with “PM sends 200 extra Paras in race against time”.