Defense officials say they'll save 5,000 a day from Kabul but 'up to 40,000' Americans remain stranded: Taliban fighters close in on airport after taking ALL access points which forces US troops to negotiate with them on who gets in

US defense officials in charge of evacuating Americans from Kabul claimed on Tuesday morning they would fly 5,000 a day despite only managing to get 1,400 out in the three days since the city fell, while as many as 40,000 may remain stranded including in remote parts of the country.

The Taliban is fast encroaching on the airport in Kabul. Its fighters are now in charge of every access point on the way from the city to the airport, and they have set up guard at the airport's entrance which means NATO troops are relying on their cooperation to safely get foreign nationals and Afghan refugees through the gates and onto planes. 

The situation at the airport was decidedly calmer on Tuesday than on Monday, when eight Afghan nationals were killed by clinging onto moving US jets or jumping on their exteriors before they took off in a desperate attempt to escape. Two people were shot dead by US troops who resorted to using apache helicopters and firing warning shots to disperse crowds of thousands of frenzied Afghans on the airfield.