is journey across the border had been torturous, a five-hour ordeal in a crush of thousands of people to walk just a few metres over the crossing between Spin Boldak in Afghanistan and Chaman in Pakistan. As Sherab Khan, 24, from Qarghayi district in Laghman province finally made it across, he let out an exhausted breath of relief. “Everyone wants to leave the hell behind,” said Khan. “Yes, this is what we call Afghanistan now: a hell.” Since Kabul fell to the Taliban, the world has watched with horror as the city’s airport has descended into scenes of deadly chaos, with thousands of Afghans cramming in at the gates in an attempt to flee on evacuation flights and being crushed or shot in the disarray. Yet at the border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan, similar scenes of desperation have been playing out. Advertisement Pakistan has said it will not accept refugees from Afghanistan and has built a border wall between the two nations that is almost complete. The land crossing between Spin Boldak and Chaman has remained open to enable continued trade and the movement of people whose families are divided across the border. Afghans are only officially allowed to cross if they have papers confirming they are visiting relatives or receiving medical treatment, although many do not and pay people smugglers to help them. The number attempting to cross since the Taliban took power has increased from about 6,000 a day to more than double that figure. On 13 August, just before Kabul fell to the Taliban, 21,000 people crossed over. In recent days, more than 100,000 people have gathered at the border each day, queueing in the heat and dust for upwards of 24 hours, in the hope of getting to Pakistan. A Pakistani official told the Guardian that between 15,000 and 20,000 people were successfully getting across daily now. In Chaman on Thursday, the scenes were ones of dusty chaos and desperation. Tens of thousands of women, men and children could be seen pushing forward and stepping on each other to cross over from Afghanistan. Women stayed close to male companions; some people fainted and children screamed as they were pushed. Some elderly people, women and luggage were carried into Chaman on wheelbarrows. Dozens of cars stood waiting for the refugees to take them to their different destinations. Some were going to Quetta, a nearby city in Pakistan, but many admitted they were planning to travel to Europe. Khan was among those who had left Afghanistan in search of freedom. “We did not choose this life and war, but the US imposed [the] Taliban upon us and left. We should be allowed to enter into the US or the west,” he said. We can’t be in Afghanistan under the Taliban and feel alive The domestic journey to get to Spin Boldak on the Afghan side of the border is also fraught with danger. The roads leading to the crossing from Kandahar province and other regions have been destroyed by roadside bombs and mines. Security checkpoints that once were occupied by Afghan forces are now controlled by the Taliban. Naib Khan, 25, sold his tanga, or horse cart, to fund his travel to Pakistan. He crossed the border late in the afternoon on Thursday with his family members. It took him about three days and sleepless nights to reach Chaman from Kabul. “Everyone is afraid in Afghanistan,” he said. “They fear the Taliban. There is uncertainty. No one knows what will happen tomorrow. There is fear in the air since the Taliban took power. Everyone speculates that Afghanistan will become bloody and there will be civil war.” Khan added: “Everyone says there is no future. That’s why we left our home.” Faiz Mohammad, 62, along with 15 members of his family, fled from Nangarhar province and reached Chaman on Thursday. “I feel shame for leaving my home at this age, but what should I do?” he said. “It would be easy for a young man to leave their house, but for an old man, he wants to live and die at his home and get buried there. I had no option than to leave for my children. The war has made us homeless. Pakistan and all countries should open their borders for us.” To stay in Afghanistan, he said, was to resign himself to death. “We can’t be in Afghanistan under the Taliban and feel alive.” Among others fleeing was Mir Zaman, from the Bati Kot district of Nangarhar province, who had previously worked as a labourer. Now, he said, there was no work in Afghanistan. “We lost our jobs, and for survival we need work. That’s why we came to Pakistan,” Zaman said. “The Taliban are asking us to stay and not leave the country, but how can we stay in a country that has no future?”