Deaths of Diggers a 'bitter day' for Australia: Gillard

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Deaths of Diggers a 'bitter day' for Australia: Gillard

By Phillip Coorey

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the murder of three Australian soldiers and the wounding of three others by a supposed ally was designed to erode the trust in the mission and that between Australian soldiers and the Afghan national army.

Describing the incident as "a bitter day for Australia", Ms Gillard said the mission would continue as planned.

She conceded the deaths - which bring to four the number of Australians killed by Afghan allies this year - would cause Australians to ask "deep and troubling questions".

But Ms Gillard said: "This does not change our mission."

The soldiers were killed when an Afghan national soldier fired on a parade at a base in Shah Wali Kot, in Kandahar province, at 8.30am (about 3pm AEDT) yesterday.

An Afghan interpreter was also killed in the incident. Seven others were wounded, including three Australians, two interpreters and two Afghan national army soldiers.

Defence Minister Stephen Smith has promised an "exhaustive" inquiry into the latest attack on Australian soldiers.

Defence Minister Stephen Smith has promised an "exhaustive" inquiry into the latest attack on Australian soldiers.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The Australian Defence Force said the families have been notified.

This is the largest single incident in Afghanistan involving Australian personnel. So far, 32 Australians have died in the Afghanistan mission and 209 have been wounded, including 43 this year.

Ms Gillard acknowledged that public support for Australia's mission in Afghanistan could waver as a consequence of yesterday's incident, in which a corporal, captain and lance corporal were killed and seven others were wounded.

Ms Gillard said Australians would be horrified by the incident and would be asking themselves some "troubling questions" about the country's role in Afghanistan.

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But she urged people not to judge the progress Australian forces were making on the one incident alone.

"Despite the gravity of this incident, and the horror of this incident, we are making progress in training members of the Afghan National Army," she said.

"Our mission is a defined one."

She said a clear strategy and timeline were in place for the mission.

"We can't allow our will to be undermined by the kinds of attacks that are aimed at corroding trust," she said.

Ms Gillard said if Australia was to pull out, it would leave a vacuum in Afghanistan that would be filled by terrorists and the Taliban.

"We are there to deny terrorists safe haven in the future," she said.

Ms Gillard offered her condolences to the families of the dead, who she described as "fine Australians".

Earlier, ADF chief General David Hurley expressed his deep sorrow and regret over the deaths.

"It is difficult to find the words to express our profound sorrow and sense of loss at this time," he said.

Defence Minister Stephen Smith also said it was a terrible day for the nation.

"The general events that General Hurley and I have outlined today will reverberate throughout the nation," Mr Smith said.

General Hurley said the deaths occurred after an Afghan national soldier opened fire on a parade. It is believed the soldier opened fire with an automatic rifle.

"The gunman was shot and killed," he said.

Troops at the base are said to be in shock, and General Hurley refused to say whether Australians could trust their Afghan counterparts.

The dead were members of the Mentoring Task Force in southern Afghanistan.

"It will be the subject of a full and complete investigation by the defence force," Mr Smith said.

Of the three, the corporal and lance corporal were on their first deployment to Afghanistan while the captain was on a second tour.

The corporal and the captain had earlier this year taken part in flood and cyclone relief operations in Queensland.

Of the wounded, General Hurley said one soldier was being treated for life-threatening wounds, four had serious wounds, and the other two had minor wounds.

General Hurley said it was likely the most seriously wounded soldiers would be transferred to a medical facility in Germany in the coming days.

"The ADF will ensure these men continue to receive the best medical care," he said.

"We will work with their families to ensure that the wounded soldiers have the support required to help them recover."

Mr Smith said despite the fatalities, Australia remained committed to its mission in Afghanistan, and progress was being made.

"We continue to be in Afghanistan because we believe it is in Australia's national security and national interest to be there," he said.

He said progress was being made in the battle against international terrorism.

"Despite terrible setbacks like today, we believe we are making progress, both in terms of training and mentoring the Afghan national security forces in Oruzgan and in Afghanistan generally."

Mr Smith said this year, the Taliban in Oruzgan province and in Afghanistan generally had "failed to retake any ground taken from them over the last 18 months or so".

Leaving now would run the risk of "creating a vacuum", he said.

"In the aftermath of any fatality ... the immediate reaction of the Australian people will be to question our commitment, I understand that," Mr Smith said.

There would be an "exhaustive" inquiry into the incident to try to minimise the risk of it happening again.

General Hurley said around 200 Afghan soldiers had been confined to barracks while evidence was gathered.

He said the mobile monitoring task force operations had been taking place there since September.

General Hurley said there would be a period during which Australian and Afghan soldiers would be "apprehensive" about their working relationship.

"That will be quite natural," he said.

"I will be looking to the commanders in the field over there.

"They will need to work their way through this because very much at the heart of our mission is the mentoring and training of the Afghan national army."

He said the two sides had begun rebuilding their relationship following the death of Lance Corporal Andrew Jones, who was killed by a rogue Afghan soldier in June.

"I was only over there three weeks ago and could see quite a natural camaraderie and working relationship in the patrol base I visited," General Hurley said.

"It's hard to get there and maintain that.

"This will take a lot of work on both sides to get us back to that type of relationship."

Greens leader Bob Brown expressed his great sadness at the deaths and repeated the minor party's call for Australian troops there to be withdrawn.

"The Greens join all Australians in offering condolences to their family and friends, and comrades in Afghanistan, as they deal with this terrible tragedy," Senator Brown said.

"They will all be remembered in Australia's archives for their courage and commitment to our nation. Thirty-two Australian soldiers have now lost their lives while serving in Afghanistan.

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"The Greens call again for Australia's defence force personnel to be brought home to Australia, without delay."

with Daniel Flitton and AAP

Two interpreters and two other ANA soldiers were wounded.

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