Reports of targeted killings in areas overrun by the Taliban are fuelling fears Afghanistan will be returned to the repressive rule they imposed when they were last in power.
Terrified that the new de facto rulers will commit such abuses and despairing for their country's future, thousands have raced to Kabul's airport and border crossings following the Taliban's blitz through Afghanistan.
US President Joe Biden, rejecting criticism of his handling of the chaotic US withdrawal, warned the operation to evacuate thousands through Kabul airport carried risks and promised Americans there that "we will get you home".
In one dramatic image, a US marine providing airport security reached over razor wire atop a barrier and plucked a baby by the arm from a crowd of people and pulled it up over the wall.
Others have taken to the streets to protest against the takeover — acts of defiance that Taliban fighters have violently suppressed.
Social media feeds have begun featuring grainy mobile phone footage of armed men searching houses and beating people in the street.
The Taliban say they have become more moderate since they last ruled Afghanistan in the late 1990s and have pledged to restore security and forgive those who fought them in the 20 years since a US-led invasion toppled them from power.
Ahead of Friday prayers, Taliban leaders urged imams to use sermons to appeal for unity and urge people not to flee the country.
But many Afghans are sceptical, fearing the Taliban will erase the gains, especially for women, achieved in the past two decades.
An Amnesty International report released on Friday provided more evidence undercutting the Taliban's claims it has changed.
The rights group said its researchers spoke to eyewitnesses in Ghazni province who recounted how the Taliban killed nine ethnic Hazara men in the village of Mundarakht between July 4 and July 6.
It said six of the men were shot, and three were tortured to death.
Hazaras are Shiite Muslims who were previously persecuted by the Taliban and who made major gains in education and social status in recent years.
Amnesty warned more killings may have gone unreported because the Taliban have cut mobile services in areas they captured.
Activists, women, former officials, journalists, ex-soldiers and members of now-defunct intelligence agencies believe they have reason to fear for their safety, despite Taliban assurances.
In Kabul alone, US embassy records show 152 people died in targeted killings between December and July.
"My family is in fear. Every second they see a car pass up the road, they run to the washroom," said one Afghan, who is trying to get his relatives out of the country and appealing to multiple governments to get them visas.
"Food is limited and prices went up," he said.
Reporters without Borders expressed alarm at the news that Taliban fighters killed a family member of an Afghan journalist working for Germany's Deutsche Welle.
The broadcaster said fighters conducted house-to-house searches for their reporter, who had already relocated to Germany.
For those remaining in Afghanistan, concerns are as basic as how to get food.
The World Food Program has said some 14 million people are facing severe hunger in the nation of some 39 million.
A second drought in three years, combined with fighting, had afflicted Afghanistan even before the Taliban takeover of the country.
'We will get you home', Biden says
Mr Biden, in a speech and answering questions from reporters, dismissed criticism that the administration misjudged the speed with which the Taliban would take over Afghanistan and that he was slow to start the evacuation of Americans and Afghan allies.
"This is one of the largest, most difficult airlifts in history," he said.
The United States is desperately trying to evacuate thousands of people from Afghanistan by an August 31 deadline, although Mr Biden said this week that US troops at Kabul airport providing security for the evacuation could stay longer if necessary.
His administration is facing criticism for chaotic and often violent scenes outside the airport as crowds struggle to reach safety inside.
Mr Biden called the past week "heartbreaking," but insisted his administration was working hard to smooth and speed the evacuations.
"I don't think any one of us can see these pictures and not feel that pain on a human level," Mr Biden said.
"Now I'm focused on getting this job done."
Mr Biden is counting on cooperation from the Taliban, and said US officials were in constant contact with the Islamist group it spent two decades fighting.
Biden claims US credibility remains strong
Democratic and Republican politicians say Mr Biden did not act swiftly enough to withdraw vulnerable people from Afghanistan in the face of the rapid Taliban advances.
Mr Biden also vowed to get out as many Afghan allies as possible.
Many are facing difficulties getting past Taliban checkpoints to the Kabul airport for evacuation flights.
Asked by a reporter why the US didn't get its citizens and Afghan allies out before the draw down even though analysts had warned of potential chaos, Mr Biden said it "wasn't expected to be the total demise of the Afghan National Force".
"There was a consensus that the Afghan Army was not going to leave, that they weren't just going to take off."
When asked whether US credibility was now shot, Mr Biden said: "I've seen no question on our credibility. The exact opposite."
"There is a greater threat from ISIS and affiliates in other countries than from Afghanistan."
Evacuation flights at the Kabul airport had stopped for several hours on Friday because of a backup at a transit point for the refugees, a US airbase in Qatar, US officials said.
However, a resumption was ordered in the afternoon, Washington time.
ABC/wires
