India revokes the special autonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir, escalating tensions between India and Pakistan over the disputed region.
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What Happened in August?
Conquests, crusades, and victories. Explore pivotal historical events that took place in August. Dates for earlier events may be approximate.
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The largest non-nuclear blast in modern history at the port of Beirut in Lebanon causes widespread devastation and loss of life after an estimated 2750 tons of unsafely stored ammonium nitrate exploded.
Mehr News Agency, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
The final U.S. military plane takes off from Afghanistan's Kabul International airport, just before the midnight deadline, officially marking the end to a nearly 20-year U.S. military presence in Afghanistan.
On August 15, the Taliban had seized control of the capital, Kabul, after a rapid offensive that advanced much faster than U.S. intelligence had predicted. This caused the U.S.-backed government to collapse and triggered a chaotic evacuation of thousands of U.S. personnel, allied nationals, and at-risk Afghans. On August 26, 2021, a suicide bombing at the Kabul airport killed 13 U.S. service members and more than 170 Afghan civilians. The attack was claimed by ISIS-K, a rival to the Taliban.