August 19, 2021: -Evacuations from Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport picked up the pace on Wednesday after a fierce and deadly start to the week as foreigners and Afghans scramble to get out of the country now under the control of the Taliban.

According to Western governments, thousands of diplomats and aid workers have been evacuated, along with at least several hundred Afghans, though the exact numbers will be unclear.

According to Reuters, more than 2,200 diplomats and other civilian workers have been evacuated on military flights, citing an anonymous security official. However, the nationalities of the evacuees have not been confirmed, and it is unknown if that figure includes the over 600 Afghans crammed onto a U.S. C-17 aircraft that brought them to Qatar.

The British government says it is taking almost 1,000 people per day out of Afghanistan. “We’re still bringing out British nationals and those Afghan nationals from our locally employed scheme,” U.K. Interior Minister Priti Patel told on Wednesday.

The goal of the Pentagon is to get 5,000 to 9,000 people out of Kabul daily, said Army Maj. Gen. Hank Taylor, deputy director of the Joint Staff for regional operations, said at a news conference on Tuesday. Taylor expects a departure tempo of one U.S. military cargo aircraft each hour. He spoke about 4,000 U.S. troops are stationed in the capital to aid in the evacuation efforts and provide security.

The missions are carried out as the Taliban layout for the world what they claim their leadership will look like.

On Tuesday, in a somewhat surreal press conference, a spokesman for the militant Islamic group, infamous for its brutal executions and oppression of dissenters, women, and anyone, decreased afoul of its ultra-conservative rules, promised rights for women and the press and amnesty for government officials.

“I would like to assure the international community, including the United States, that nobody will be harmed,” a person from Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, told reporters. “We don’t want any enemies.”

In recent weeks, reports of human rights violations by Taliban fighters have surfaced in other parts of the country. Almost every afghan remain desperate to flee the country for fear of reprisal for the role in helping U.S. and allied forces. Even if the group will stay true to its word is yet to be seen.