Afghanistan: the last Australian troops have left the country

The last Australian troops in Afghanistan left after twenty years in the country.

© STU DOOD AUSTRALIAN DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE / AFP

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2 min

The Australian Minister of Defense confirmed it this Sunday, July 11.

The last soldiers engaged in the coalition led by the United States left Afghanistan, after 20 years in this country, again on the way to fall into the hands of the Taliban.

A military engagement that left traces and that raises questions.

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With our correspondent in Sydney,

Grégory Plesse

Without fanfare, the last six Australian soldiers present in Afghanistan left Kabul on June 18, a few weeks before their American counterparts, who will be packing up in August.

Over the past 20 years, nearly 40,000 Australian servicemen have been deployed to Afghanistan.

More than mixed results

41 died in action, 260 were seriously wounded there. But more worrying still, more than 400 of them committed suicide there. The Australian military has also seen its image tarnished in Afghanistan: dozens of members of the elite troops, the SAS, are currently

facing prosecution for war crimes

, such as the killings of civilians, including children.

As the future of Afghanistan looks more uncertain than ever, some in Australia are wondering what all this has been for.

The Minister of Defense, if he recognizes that the situation on the spot is precarious, wants to believe that this military engagement made it possible to avoid other attacks as deadly as those of September 11, 2001. Moreover, he does not exclude the return of Australian soldiers to Afghanistan, but only members of the special forces for ad hoc operations, carried out jointly with the United States.

► To read also: "A matter of weeks": in Afghanistan, the victory of the Taliban is imminent

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  • Afghanistan

  • Australia

  • Taliban

  • United States