The first of three German evacuation planes sent to Afghanistan has landed in Kabul to evacuate foreign nationals and local Afghan staff, security and government sources told Reuters late on Monday.
The A400M was to load people to be evacuated and take them to the Uzbek capital Tashkent, one source said, adding passengers would travel on in civilian aircraft from there.
The German military uses Tashkent as a hub for its air bridge to Kabul. The German government has pledged to rescue as many foreign nationals and local staff as possible while the airport is still open.
Earlier on Monday, a German military aircraft had to divert to Tashkent because desperate people trying to flee Afghanistan were blocking the runway in Kabul.
Thousands of Afghans fear the Taliban forces who have overrun the country. Many hurried to the airport in Kabul to try and catch one of the last flights out before the Islamist militants took over.
Germany said on Monday it would airlift thousands of German-Afghan dual nationals as well as human rights activists, lawyers and other people who worked with NATO forces in the country.