we ll have reaction from kabul and westminster and speak to afghan refugees. sarah storey makes history in tokyo as she claims her sixteenth gold medal becoming britain s joint most successful paralympian of all time. joint most successful it s tuesday 315t august. our top story: 20 years since american troops invaded afghanistan, the united states has ended its military involvement in the country. the last flight carrying troops took offjust before midnight in kabul, marking the end of the usa s longest war and once again leaving the taliban in charge. our north america correspondent, peter bowes, reports. the last american soldier to leave afghanistan major general chris donoghue boarding a cargo plane, the final flight out of kabul. a hugely symbolic moment bringing to an end the us mission that started shortly
it s tuesday 31st august. our top story. 20 years since american troops invaded afghanistan, the united states has ended its military involvement in the country. the last flight carrying troops took offjust before midnight in kabul, marking the end of the usa s longest war and once again leaving the taliban in charge. our north america correspondent, peter bowes, reports. the last american soldier to leave afghanistan major general chris donoghue boarding a cargo plane, the final flight out of kabul. a hugely symbolic moment bringing to an end the us mission that started shortly after the september 11th attacks in 2001. as the c 17 disappeared into the night sky, on the ground the taliban celebrated with gun fire and fireworks. a victory for them, following two decades of international engagement in the country and recent weeks marked by violence, bloodshed and chaotic scenes in kabul.
the conflict was the longest in american history and ends as it began with the taliban in power. in line with the agreement signed with the taliban, the final us evacuation flight left kabul airport a minute before midnight, localtime, last night. since then, the taliban have taken it over along with the rest of the country, declaring this victory belongs to us all . in all, around 130,000 people have been evacuated in the last few weeks. speaking this morning, the foreign secretary dominic raab said the number of uk nationals still in afghanistan was in the low hundreds and the government were doing all they could to help. the number of afghans trying to leave the country via pakistan and iran is said to have quadrupled in recent weeks. in the last 20 years, almost 2,500 service personnel have been killed. for the first time in two decades there are no foreign troops in afghanistan. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowes reports. the last american soldier to leave afghanis
speaking this morning, the foreign secretary dominic raab said the number of uk nationals still in afghanistan was in the low hundreds and the government were doing all they could to help. the number of afghans trying to leave the country via pakistan and iran is said to have quadrupled in recent weeks. in the last 20 years, almost 2,500 service personnel have been killed and many hundreds of thousands of afghan civilians. for the first time in two decades, there are no foreign troops in afghanistan. 0ur north america correspondent peter bowes reports. the last american soldier to leave afghanistan major general chris donoghue boarding a cargo plane, the final flight out of kabul. a hugely symbolic moment bringing to an end the us mission that started shortly after the september
afternoon at 3:29 p.m. historic. historic. the plane carrying the last two u.s. officials to step off afghan soil. the top u.s. diplomat in kabul, in charge of the affairs, ross wilson. and general chris donoghue, commander of the 82nd airborne division. the last soldier to leave afghanistan. officially, ending the 20-year war. president biden set to address the american people tomorrow afternoon. putting out a statement saying, and i quote, it was the unanimous recommendation of the joint chiefs and of all of our commanders on the ground to end our airlift mission as planned. their view was that ending our military mission was the best way to protect the lives of our troops and secure the prospects of civilian departures for those who want to leave afghanistan in the weeks and months ahead. the secretary of state, antony blinken, vowing the united states will continue its commitment to americans who