A panicked crush of people trying to enter Kabul’s international airport killed seven Afghan civilians in the crowds, the British military said on Sunday, showing the danger still posed to those trying to flee the Taliban’s takeover of the country.

The deaths come as a group of fighters opposing the Taliban’s rule battle the insurgents in the mountains and valleys to the north of Kabul, capturing several rural districts. While details of the fighting remain unclear, it marks the first organized resistance to rise up against the Taliban since they blitzed across the country in under a week to seize the majority of the country and its capital. The Taliban deployed fighters on Sunday to launch a possible offensive there.

Kabul’s airport, now one of the few ways out of the country for the millions in the city, has seen days of chaos since the Taliban entered the capital on Aug. 15. Thousands rushed the airport last Monday in the chaos that saw the U.S. try to clear off the runway with low-flying attack helicopters. Several Afghans plunged o their deaths while hanging off the side of a US military cargo plane,  some of the seven killed that day alone.

In chaotic scenes on Saturday, British and Western troops in full combat gear tried to control crowds big enough to be seen in satellite photos pressing into the airport. They carried away some who were sweating and pale. With temperatures reaching 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit), the soldiers sprayed water from a hose on those gathered or gave them bottled water to pour over their heads.

The British military on Sunday acknowledged the seven deaths of civilians in the crowds. There have been other stampedes and crushing injuries in the crowds, especially as Taliban fighters fire into the air to drive away those desperate to get on any flight out of the country.

“Conditions on the ground remain extremely challenging but we are doing everything we can to manage the situation as safely and securely as possible,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether those killed had been physically crushed, suffocated or suffered a fatal heart attack in the crowds. Soldiers covered several corpses in white clothes to hide them from view. Other troops stood atop concrete barriers or shipping containers, trying to calm the crowd. Gunshots occasionally rang out.

The chaos at Kabul airport comes as a new, perceived threat from the Islamic State group affiliate in Afghanistan has seen U.S. military planes do rapid, diving combat landings at the airport. Other aircraft have shot off flares on takeoff, an effort to confuse possible heat-seeking missiles targeting the planes.