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AN Australian soldier has died in Afghanistan - the second combat fatality this week. Chief of the Defence Force Angus Houston held a press conference at 10pm (AEDT) to announce the death. The soldier died while trying to defuse an explosive device. His name has not yet been releaed. He is the 10th Digger to die in Afghanistan. "As an Australian soldier took action to render the device safe, as he was carrying out this task, there was an explosion and he was killed," Air Chief Marshal Houston said. "The soldier was highly skilled and very courageous. "He was an...

MILITARY chiefs have defended the support given to Australia's new army training teams in Afghanistan following the death of another soldier, killed in a firefight with the Taliban. The soldier, the ninth Australian serviceman to die in Afghanistan, was a member of the army's newly established operational mentor and liaison team, which is helping to train an Afghan National Army battalion. He was badly wounded while on patrol with the ANA soon after 9am (3.30pm AEDT) on Monday near the village of Kakarak, 12km north of the Australian base at Tarin Kowt. Defence chief Angus Houston said yesterday the infantryman...

A SOLDIER who became a father just days ago is the ninth Australian to die in Afghanistan. The corporal, from the Darwin-based 7th Battalion, was the first from a new Operational Mentor and Liaison Team (OMLT) and the second non-special forces soldier to die in action in Afghanistan since 2002. OMLTs are engaged in joint patrols with Afghan National Army soldiers. Diggers have expressed concerns about fighting alongside local troops. The recently married soldier, whose family refused to release his name, was killed by gunfire on Monday morning during a Taliban ambush at the village of Kakarak about 12km north...

SAS trooper Mark Donaldson exposed himself so much to enemy fire that when Australia's last VC winner heard about his award he assumed it would be posthumous. Over two hours in southeastern Afghanistan last September 2, Trooper Donaldson, 29, repeatedly fought alone in open ground raked by accurate and heavy Taliban machine-gun fire to allow his wounded comrades to be dragged to safety. Deliberate exposure to draw enemy fire away from the wounded would have been enough for a Victoria Cross recommendation, but Trooper Donaldson then sprinted 80m over the same killing ground to save the life of a seriously...

Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce, AC, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia pins the Victoria Cross to Trooper Mark Donaldson VC. Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce, AC, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia congratulates Trooper Mark Donaldson VC at today's ceremony. Mr Keith Payne VC congratulates Trooper Mark Donaldson VC at today's ceremony. A congratulatory kiss from wife Emma to Trooper Mark Donaldson VC; with the Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Ken Gillespie; Mrs Houston and the Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston looking on. The Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon. Kevin Rudd MP, congratulates...

AUSTRALIAN special forces in Afghanistan have avenged the death of commando Gregory Sher by killing the Taliban leader who orchestrated the fatal rocket attack of a week ago. As Private Sher was buried in Melbourne yesterday at a service attended by Kevin Rudd and Malcolm Turnbull, Defence chief Angus Houston was in Afghanistan to console and congratulate the troops that moved against Taliban insurgents last week. "It is quite clear you made them pay for the death of a comrade," Air Chief Marshal Houston told the special forces soldiers at their Tarin Kowt base in southern Afghanistan... Houston confirmed one...

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ANOTHER Australian soldier has been killed in Afghanistan after a rocket exploded in a defence compound. He is the eighth Australian soldier to die in the conflict zone. Australian Defence Force Chief Angus Houston told a press conference at defence headquarters this morning that he would not be releasing the man's name yet at the request of his family. "It is with deep regret that I inform you an Australian soldier has been killed. The soldier was killed instantly when a rocket exploded in the compound. To the family I want to convey I am terribly sorry for their loss,”...

THE Australian Defence Force has breached its environmental and safety guidelines in Afghanistan, allowing raw sewage to overflow at its Tarin Kowt base and using accommodation that could pose a fire hazard to troops. The accusations come from John Roberts, a former Australian army officer and until recently a contractor at Tarin Kowt in Oruzgan province where Australian troops are stationed, The Australian reports. Mr Roberts said he saw the ADF flout its environmental guidelines between 2005 and last August by allowing the dumping of raw sewage from its troops into nearby open holding ponds that then overflowed, threatening to...

DEFENCE has named Lieutenant Michael Fussell as the latest Australian soldier to die in Afghanistan. Lt Fussell was killed by an improvised explosive device detonation in Afghanistan yesterday. The 25-year-old was a member of the Sydney-based 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment and was conducting a dismounted patrol when he and his team were struck by the device. Lt Fussell was not married and had no children.

DAVID Petraeus would like more Australians to work alongside him as he assumes overall command of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars next month. General Petraeus said he had already asked Canberra to lend him several Australians. "I have already requested it. I need to be careful here,"... ...the four-star general said he wanted to thank Australian troops for their contribution to Iraq. "We are privileged to have them with us," he said. "They have initiative. They have a great work ethic and they have a wonderful sense of humour. "They don't hesitate to offer a view, even when not solicited....

SYDNEY, Australia - Australian special forces in Afghanistan detained four suspected Taliban militants captured in April in pens sometimes used to hold dogs, the defense minister said Tuesday. Many Muslims consider dogs impure and the head of Australia's main Islamic group strongly criticized the actions of the special forces. Afghanistan's ambassador to Australia Amanullah Jayhoon said the reports were troubling but stopped short of criticizing the soldiers. Australian Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon defended the special forces, saying the detainees arrested on April 29 were held in the most secure place available before they were transported to a detention center in...

AN Australian special forces soldier is fighting for his life and eight others are also wounded after they were ambushed overnight by Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan. The soldiers were attacked with rocket propelled grenades and guns as they were returning in vehicles from an operation targeting Taliban fighters in strife-torn Oruzgan province. One soldier is suffering ``life threatening'' wounds, five others have serious injuries and three have ``slight wounds,'' a Defence Department spokeswoman said this morning. It is the highest number of casualties Australian troops had experienced in a single incident since the Vietnam war, defence spokesman brigadier Brigadier Brian...

The army is about to undergo its biggest organisational shake-up in 35 years as it prepares for a future in which there will be less emphasis on killing people. New Chief of Army, Lieutenant-General Ken Gillespie, has outlined a series of changes to higher command under the ''Adaptive Army'' initiative. He said the army had too many headquarters between units and high command. ''This slows down decision cycles, constricts the passage of information in an age of email and Blackberries, and the sharing of lessons learned,'' he said. General Gillespie said the past decade's high tempo of operations had shown...

AUSTRALIAN special forces soldiers have killed a senior Taliban commander responsible for co-ordinating attacks on government facilities in Afghanistan's Oruzgan province. Australian troops spotted Mullah Akhtar Mohammed and his armed protection party in a remote area of Oruzgan last week, Defence said today. The special operations task group (SOTG) patrol kept watch and, after confirming there were no non-combatants in the area, called in an airstrike, defence spokesman Brigadier Brian Dawson said.

CHRIS Doran (Letters, 1/8) is entitled to his view, but he gets just about everything wrong about my account of the Iraq war... The assault was neither disproportionate nor was it indiscriminate; it was conducted strictly in accordance with the laws of armed conflict and undertaken to remove a safe haven for terrorists/insurgents whose crimes against the people we have publicly documented... White phosphorous is as terrible as any battlefield weapon but it is not a chemical weapon and is not illegal if used against enemy forces as it was in Fallujah... Far from closing down Fallujah’s hospital, the coalition...

AT 6.15am, Private Ray Johnson woke, pushed back his camouflage-print doona and got up. It was already hot, despite the constant, noisy work of the airconditioner above his bed. He showered and, when he got back to the room, woke the other two men sleeping in the bunks beside the door. They went quickly through their morning routine: wash, dress, webbing, weapons, helmet, out. Sharing a space this small with two other blokes, each learned to live without getting on the others' nerves. It was just another day. Another eight hours of guard duty, rotating around different positions at the...

THE Australian commando killed by a bomb in Afghanistan overnight has been remembered for his humour, integrity and dedication as a soldier. Signaller Sean McCarthy, 25, a member of the Perth-based Special Air Service Regiment, was killed yesterday when his vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Kunar province, on the border with Pakistan. Two other commandos were injured in the attack. Signaller McCarthy is the sixth Australian soldier to die in Afghanistan since 2002, and the second this year. Kevin Rudd, who is attending the G8 summit in Japan, described the death as a “terrible loss to his family, the...

THE former high school of a Gold Coast soldier killed by a roadside bombing in Afghanistan has remembered him as a vibrant young man with a great sense of humour. Signaller Sean McCarthy, 25, was killed yesterday. Signaller McCarthy was born in New Zealand but was raised on the Gold Coast. He attended Trinity Lutheran College, Ashmore, before joining the ADF in 2001. His various postings before joining the SAS last year included a spell in Toowoomba. He is the sixth Australian soldier to die in Afghanistan since 2002 and the second this year. McCarthy's old high school today paid...

AN Australian Special Forces soldier, who was injured in Afghanistan after his vehicle was hit by an insurgent improvised explosive device (IED) late last month, has returned to Australia, Defence said. Two soldiers were injured in the blast which took place during a Special Operations Task Group (SOTG) patrol returning from a successful clearance operation when the attack occurred. The second soldier was slightly wounded in the explosion. Fellow soldiers provided immediate first aid before both soldiers were flown by helicopter to a nearby International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) medical facility, defence force spokesman Brigadier Brian Dawson said. "The medical...