The Taliban yesterday blamed the United States for the chaotic evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans and foreigners from the capital, one week after the hardline Islamist group returned to power in a rapid victory that stunned the world.

The insurgents also fired in the air and used batons to make people line up in orderly queues outside Kabul airport yesterday, witnesses said, after seven Afghans were killed in a crush at the gates.

The United States has warned of security threats and the European Union admitted it was "impossible" to evacuate everyone at risk from the Taliban, who have vowed a softer version of their brutal rule from 1996-2001.

But terrified Afghans continue to try to flee, deepening a tragedy at Kabul airport where the United States and its allies have been unable to cope with the huge numbers of people trying to get on evacuation flights.

"America, with all its power and facilities... has failed to bring order to the airport. There is peace and calm all over the country, but there is chaos only at Kabul airport," Taliban official Amir Khan Mutaqi said.

Britain's defence ministry said seven Afghans were killed in the crush around the airport on Saturday as thousands of people desperately tried to get a flight out, a week after the Islamist militant group took control of the country.

Sky News showed footage of soldiers standing on a wall on Saturday attempting to pull the injured out from the crush and spraying people with a hose to prevent them from getting dehydrated.

"Conditions on the ground remain extremely challenging but we are doing everything we can to manage the situation as safely and securely as possible," the ministry said in a statement.

A Nato official said that at least 20 people have died in the past seven days in and around the airport. Some were shot and others died in stampedes, witnesses have said.

Panicked Afghans have tried to get on flights abroad, fearing reprisals and a return to a harsh version of Islamic law the Sunni Muslim group exercised when it was in power two decades ago.

Leaders of the Taliban, who have sought to show a more moderate face since capturing Kabul last Sunday, have begun talks on forming a government.

Commanders of the group are set to meet former governors and bureaucrats in more than 20 of 34 provinces over the next few days to ensure their safety and seek cooperation, a Taliban official said yesterday.

The United States and other foreign countries including Britain have brought in several thousand troops to manage the evacuations of foreign citizens and vulnerable Afghans, but have stayed away from the outside areas of the airport.

"Our forces are maintaining strict distance from the outer areas of the Kabul airport to prevent any clashes with the Taliban," the Nato official said.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell gave a bleak assessment of whether the airlift would succeed.

"They want to evacuate 60,000 people between now and the end of this month. It's mathematically impossible," he told AFP.

A Taliban official said yesterday that "we are seeking complete clarity on foreign forces' exit plan."

Afghans who fled the country this week have spoken about their despair at leaving loved ones behind and the uncertain future ahead. "It was very difficult to leave my country," a veiled woman told Reuters in Doha, Qatar. "I love my country."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said yesterday he had called a G7 leaders' meeting on Tuesday to discuss the crisis in Afghanistan and urged the international community to find ways to prevent it from escalating.

Meanwhile, former UK prime minister Tony Blair, who in 2001 took Britain into war in Afghanistan alongside the United States, on Saturday condemned their "abandonment" of the country as "dangerous" and "unnecessary".

THOUSANDS OF US TROOPS

On Saturday, the United States and Germany told their citizens in Afghanistan to avoid travelling to Kabul airport, citing security risks as desperate crowds gathered.

Army Major General William Taylor told a Pentagon briefing on Saturday that 5,800 US troops remain at the airport and that the facility "remains secure".

Yesterday, a Pentagon spokesman said the United States would deploy 18 commercial aircraft, including from United, American Airlines and Delta, to help transport people who have already been flown out of Afghanistan.

Taylor said that in the past week the United States has evacuated 17,000 people, including 2,500 Americans, from Kabul.

Australia ran four flights into Kabul on Saturday night, evacuating more than 300 people, including Australians, Afghan visa holders, New Zealanders, US and British citizens, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.

TALIBAN IN POWER

The group's leaders are trying to hammer out a new government and the group's co-founder, Mullah Baradar, has arrived in the Afghan capital for talks with other leaders.

Forces holding out against the Taliban in northern Afghanistan said this weekend they have taken three districts close to the Panjshir valley where remnants of government forces and other militia groups have gathered.

The Taliban, who follow an ultra-hardline version of Islam, have said they want peace and will respect the rights of women within the framework of Islamic law.

When in power from 1996 to 2001, also guided by Islamic law, the Taliban stopped women from working or going out without wearing an all-enveloping burqa and stopped girls from going to school.