“It is an emotional day but mainly, and most importantly, we must think of those who have been most significantly impacted,” Mr Morrison said in Perth.

“The families of those who are lost and that sacrifice which they live with each and every day, but also those who bore arms with them and served with them.”

• Read: Last remaining ADF troops to leave Afghanistan within months

More than 39,000 Australian Defence Force personnel have served in Afghanistan in the past 20 years, making it Australia’s longest running war.

Australia will continue to provide aid to the war-ravaged country through defence co-operation programs, but the federal government will no longer provide any “in-country support”.

The announcement came a day after US President Joe Biden confirmed American forces would start leaving Afghanistan on May 1, with the aim of fully withdrawing by September 11 – the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks on the US.