Australia Says Last Troops Withdrawn From Afghanistan

SYDNEY - Australia's defense minister on Sunday confirmed the end of his country's involvement in the 20-year Afghanistan war, saying the troop withdrawal had taken place "in recent weeks.”   

Australia announced in April that it would remove its remaining troops by September in line with the U.S. decision to end its military operations in the war-torn country.    Defense Minister Peter Dutton told Sky News that the country's last 80 support personnel had left Afghanistan "in recent weeks."    "That doesn't mean we won't be a part of campaigns with the United States... where we deem that to be in our national interest or in the interest of our allies," he added. "For now, though, that campaign has come to an end."