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Added on the 15/02/2021 13:00:00 - Copyright : EFE Inglés
The commander of American military forces on the ground in Afghanistan and Washington's ambassador there were the last to board the final evacuation flight from Kabul on Monday, says the head of US Central Command. "On the last airplane out was General Chris Donahue, the commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, and my ground force commander there," Marine Corps General Kenneth McKenzie tells reporters at the Pentagon, "and he was accompanied by our Charge A (Charge d'Affaires, ed), Ambassador Ross Wilson, so they came out together." SOUNDBITE
The sound of celebratory gunfire is heard across Kabul and fireworks can be seen in the sky early Tuesday after the Pentagon and Taliban separately confirmed that the last US troops had left Afghanistan, ending a 20-year war. [COMPLETES VIDI9LX2RZ_EN] IMAGES
Minsk, Feb 15 (EFE/EPA).- (Camera: Tatsiana Zenkovich) Bellarusians in Minsk held a ceremony on Saturday to commemorate the 31st anniversary of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan.Between 25 December 1979 and 15 February 1989, a total of 620,000 Soviet Union soldiers and other security personnel served in Afghanistan, where over 14,000 died.FOOTAGE OF THE CEREMONY AT THE MEMORIAL COMPLEX ISLAND OF TEARS IN THE SVISLOCH RIVER IN MINSK. FOOTAGE OF SOLDIERS HOLDING PICTURES OF DECEASED AND PEOPLE LAYING FLOWERS.
Russian soldiers attend a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown soldier in Moscow to mark the 30th anniversary of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan. IMAGES of the ceremony
Polish minister of defence Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz and Parliament speaker Szymon Holownia attend a ceremony in Warsaw celebrating 25 years since Poland's accession to NATO. A day earlier, President Andrzej Duda urged NATO members to increase their defence spending to three percent of GDP in response to Russia's aggression against Ukraine. IMAGES