Afghanistan: Taliban declare victory after last US troops withdraw

The history books will record that the last American soldier to leave was Major General Chris Donahue.

When he stepped on board a US military plane in the dead of night, it was without fanfare.

But it signalled the end of America’s longest war, one that lasted 20 years and cost the lives of tens of thousands of Afghans, more than 2,400 US military personnel and more than 450 from the UK.

It also signalled a departure that looked like defeat.