Inside the terminal, Afghans with small children sat dazed next to European special-forces operators with their sniper rifles and high-tech helmets equipped with night vision and infrared tags. Outside, the engines of helicopters and transport planes provided a steady, almost lulling, hum. Once in awhile, groups of evacuees—the staff of the Indian embassy, or Bulgarian security contractors—donned helmets and body armor and set off toward their plane.

Latif, who worked for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s mission, arrived with his wife and six children late Sunday afternoon. Initially, he was told he would be going to Finland, but then the chartered flight was canceled, he said. “They are telling us we will go somewhere, but where and when, nobody knows,” he sighed as his children huddled together on a hard bench…

Kimberley Motley, an international human-rights attorney who has worked on Afghanistan issues for 13 years and was on Sunday desperately trying to help Afghans get out of the country, said the situation was a “human-rights nightmare.”

“This is like Saigon on steroids,” she said, imploring the U.S. military to send troops to the civilian side of the airport.