Tensions are especially heightened because August 19 is Afghanistan’s Independence Day, commemorating the date Britain relinquished control of the country in 1919.

Afghans poured onto Kabul’s streets with the national black, red and green flag to mark the date on Thursday, in defiance of the Taliban. In some instances they removed the white and black Taliban flag; one witness told CNN the Taliban fired into the air to try and break up the procession. It is unclear if anyone was injured.

Large Taliban convoys have also been deployed through the city’s streets, a CNN team witnessed. The convoys, consisting of two to three pickup trucks with at least six Taliban fighters in each, were seen circling several areas of the city with sirens blaring.

Sporadic gunfire was also heard, at a more intense rate than on previous days.

On Wednesday militants fired into the crowd and beat protesters at a rally in Jalalabad, where demonstrators had removed the group’s flag from the main square, three witnesses told CNN.

At the capital’s airport, where for days images of frantic Afghans looking for escape have underscored the dramatic unraveling of two decades of US involvement in the country, crowds are swelling and locals are struggling to get through Taliban checkpoints and into the facility.

But he did not make the same pledge for Afghan partners, and locals face a chaotic rush to get themselves onto a flight.

Desperation at Kabul’s airport

Images of mothers handing their babies to British soldiers over barbed wire outside the airport have emerged on social media in recent days, highlighting the dire outlook for many Afghans trying to leave Kabul.

The UK’s defense minister Ben Wallace said Thursday they cannot take unaccompanied minors, and that those parents would have had to force their way through the crowds to be reunited with their children. He added it has been “very difficult” for troops “dealing with some desperate people, many of whom are just wanting to leave the country.”

Wallace claimed that the Taliban were “letting our people through” to the processing center “which is good news,” but people CNN spoke with on the ground have reported severe difficulties in accessing the airport, with several saying they were turned away despite having the correct paperwork.

In total 12 people have been killed in and around the airport since the Taliban took control of the capital on Sunday, Reuters reported Thursday, citing NATO sources and Taliban officials.

The deaths were caused either by gunshots or stampedes of people trying to get into the airport in the hope of boarding an evacuation flight, Reuters reported. CNN has been unable to independently verify the reports.

And as the final departure of Western forces looms larger, scenes at the airport are becoming more disorderly. A Dutch evacuation plane was forced to leave with no passengers on Wednesday, while the European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, has lamented that the bloc cannot rescue all Afghans seeking a way out.

“These people have loyally promoted and defended EU interests in Afghanistan over many years, it’s our moral duty to protect them and to help to save as many people as possible,” he said, conceding: “We cannot take all Afghan people out of the country.”