LONDON, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- The last British military and diplomatic personnel leaving the Kabul airport touched down in Britain on Sunday morning, marking the end of the country's 20-year military involvement in Afghanistan.
The final military flight followed Britain's last evacuation flight solely for civilians on Saturday.
In a video uploaded to Twitter on Sunday morning, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson praised the "colossal exertions" of British troops and said their departure from Afghanistan was "the culmination of a mission unlike anything we've seen in our lifetimes."
In the video, Johnson also paid tribute to the 150,000 members of British armed forces who had served in Afghanistan over the past two decades, 457 of whom lost their lives.
According to Johnson, Britain airlifted more than 15,000 British nationals and Afghans who worked for Britain and their families in less than two weeks.
The conclusion of the British evacuation from the Taliban-held Afghanistan came two days ahead of the Aug. 31 deadline set by U.S. President Joe Biden.
During a Group of Seven virtual summit early this week, U.S. allies failed to persuade Biden to extend the deadline to allow for more time for their evacuation efforts.
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said on Friday that between 800 and 1,100 Afghans eligible to come to Britain would be left behind. Enditem
