Fearful Afghans began fleeing the country today as the Taliban urged Muslims to fight to their deaths against the US.
Hundreds of residents in the Afghan capital Kabul, who are convinced the US would soon launch retaliatory strikes for the terror attacks on New York and Washington, are packing up to leave.
Many aim to cross the border into Pakistan, but face ten-day waits for passports and visas. Some have resigned themselves to seeking refuge in rural areas in a bid to escape the full fury of the US military.
The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has also stopped screening refugees for possible repatriation to Afghanistan - a process only started last month in a bid to resettle around two million Afghans living in Pakistan.
The United Nations has closed its offices and suspended its flights, which make up Afghanistan's only international air links as a result of sanctions imposed over the presence of bin Laden.
The Taliban, however, urged people to stay and fight.
"All the Muslims in the world should support their Islam and their own belief, should defend Afghanistan ... and should be ready for anything to make a sacrifice for Islam," Taliban leader Mullah Omar told the Voice of Shariyat Radio.
"Each Muslim should be ready for a jihad ... be ready for his religion if there is a need for him to sacrifice himself for Islam."