Since the Taliban re-took control of Afghanistan last week, huge numbers of Afghans have attempted to flee the group's feared hardline rule.
It has resulted in panic and chaos, particularly around the Kabul airport.
Australia's Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews has said the situation at Hamid Karzai International Airport has been "diabolical" and the government was acting as fast as it could to get people out.
But what's actually involved in evacuating people from such a volatile situation?
Sydney-based Tony Loughran, the director of private security company ZeroRisk International and who has worked in Afghanistan for 25 years, has been helping to coordinate evacuations over the past week.
Here, he speaks with SBS News about the high-stakes operations, including some of the precarious journeys to Kabul airport as well as the threat posed by the Taliban.
How risky are these operations?
Very, very risky, Mr Loughran says.
"This is why the planning has to be spot on and this is why, in this particular situation, it is pretty dire because everyone was so caught out by the actual speed and ferocity of the Taliban's advance, and the collapse of the forces. So planning is key. It is really, really crucial," he says.
He says this mission amounts to a "worst-case scenario" where authorities are "dealing with just about everything".
"We haven't got the infrastructure that you would have behind you to do a phased evacuation, where people are coming out over the period of a month," he says.
"The Americans thought they were going to have 90 days. At the end of the day we've only been given something like two and half weeks (until President Joe Biden's 31 August deadline)".
Tony Loughran Source: SBS News
What risks do people face trying to get to Kabul airport?
Mr Loughran says the risks people are taking are "phenomenal".
"Just the geographic location within Kabul, for instance, getting people to a position where they have to ride three roadblocks and vehicle checkpoints manned by the Taliban along the way. All of the roads approaching the airport are gridlocked," he says.
"There are hundreds and hundreds of people [we are trying to help]. There is a woman and baby who persevered over 12 hours. She had an American visa and got to the front and the Taliban was whipping everyone and so she had to turn around with her child. We've got a one-year-old child. We've also got a 22-year-old female."
Mr Loughran says huge numbers of people are hemmed in at the airport, with thousands trying to get to the one gate.
"The risks they run there is being caught up in the crowd. It's the stampede we've seen in the past as a gun goes off, or an explosion goes off and they've literally gone under the crowd and that's it. The hurdles they face are monumental - absolutely colossal."
Who are you trying to evacuate?
All kinds of people, Mr Loughran says.
"The BBC asked us to get one of their [contractors], and there are two people I personally want to get out of Kabul and Kandahar - they helped me while I worked in Afghanistan and I owe it to them," he says.
"My main mission is locals, people who have been left behind, those who are ultra high-risk, those who face potential execution."
How many people are at 'ultra high-risk'?
It's hard to quantify, Mr Loughran says.
"If you think about it, the campaign in Afghanistan ran for 20 years from day one. There were people working alongside Americans, Western forces, NGOs. So there are 20 years of people who gave their lives," he says.
"We have got some pretty dire cases that we need to get out ASAP and we've only got a tight timeframe now."
Can Australia be doing anything else?
Australian Defence Force personnel unloading luggage following an evacuation from Afghanistan Source: Australian Defence Force
Almost 1,700 people have been lifted out of Afghanistan as part of Australian efforts to evacuate people.
The government has also pledged at least 3,000 places for Afghans in its humanitarian intake this year, though that commitment falls short of what some other nations have promised.
Mr Loughran says it is critical that visas are granted as quickly as possible for those at risk.
"The individuals themselves need the [visas] as a priority so that at the end of the day they can get through," he said.
"I am pleading with the Australian government to try and look at the acceleration of the visa process. These people are stuck in the middle of nowhere and they get to the gate and because they haven't got a visa to wave in front of the guard or anyone else for that matter, literally what is happening is that the Taliban are grabbing hold of them and beating them or throwing them to the back of the queue.
"[That means] we've lost the momentum, we've lost that particular chance. It's heartbreaking that the individuals themselves have got so close and yet so far."
The government has repeatedly said it is working urgently to process visa applications.
Mr Loughran says "a voice inside the airport" would also be very infinitely helpful.
"We can't get any contacts within the airport. I keep hearing about the Americans, I hear about the Brits, but we don't really hear about the Australian connection and that's what we need, we need a voice ... to tell us what gate to go to and at what time," he says.
"We need be given guidance by [the Australian] government, within the actual perimeter, and make that connection with people who are trying to organise logistically to get these people out. Without that connection it is a dangerous place."
