An event marking the Anzac Day is held at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Australia, April 25, 2021. Australia has paused to pay tribute to those who have served the country in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations. Thousands of people across the country on Sunday morning attended dawn services to mark Anzac Day, the national day of remembrance for troops in Australia and New Zealand. (Photo by Chu Chen/Xinhua)
CANBERRA, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Australia has paused to pay tribute to those who have served the country in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations.
Thousands of people across the country on Sunday morning attended dawn services to mark Anzac Day, the national day of remembrance for troops in Australia and New Zealand.
It is the first time Australians have been able to gather publicly on Anzac Day since 2019 after services were limited in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"This time last year, like so many other times in our history, we faced a defining moment as a nation, a moment of uncertainty and danger, when the future seems so uncertain, masked by fog," Prime Minister Scott Morrison told a crowd of thousands at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
Sunday marked the 106th anniversary of the landings at Gallipoli in World War I, during which more than 8,000 Australians were killed.
Morrison used his speech to thank the more than 39,000 Australians who have served in the country's "longest war" in the Middle East.
It comes after he announced in April that all Australian troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan by September after 20 years.
Similar activities were held in some other Australian cities as well. Enditem
