MADRID — Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles said that their missionin Afghanistan was over with the return of the last group of militarypersonnel.

He said that 24 Spanish military personnel arrived at Madrid’s militaryairport on Sunday.

After 20 years of deployment, Spain on Sunday completed its withdrawal fromAfghanistan.

The European country also withdrew its troops from Afghanistan in 2015.

In total, 29,861 Spanish troops deployed to Afghanistan since January 2002.It has been the longest military operation of Spain’s modern armed forces,with 102 dead (62 of them in an aircraft crash in Turkey while they werecoming back home in May 2003).

Foreign forces have started vacating a number of bases in Afghanistan, topmilitary NATO commander said on Sunday.

“We have started withdrawing from a number of bases… Even if Afghanistanhas access to a peace agreement, we have been told to leave,” Commander ofthe NATO Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan Gen. Austin Scott Millerwas quoted by Sputnik as saying at a press conference.