2 Australian soldiers killed in explosion in southern Afghanistan after 10 NATO troops die

2 Australian soldiers die in Afghanistan explosion

CANBERRA, Australia — Two Australian soldiers were killed by an improvised explosive device in southern Afghanistan, the worst fatalities the country has suffered in a single day during military deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, an official said Tuesday.

The men were among a total of 10 International Security Assistance Force troops, including seven Americans, killed in separate attacks on Monday on the deadliest day of the year for foreign forces in Afghanistan. A U.S. civilian contractor who trains Afghan police also died in a brazen suicide assault.

It was the first multiple fatalities Australia has suffered in a day in either Afghanistan or Iraq, Acting Defense Force Chief Lt. Gen. David Hurley told reporters in the capital Canberra. The deaths bring Australia’s casualty toll in Afghanistan to 13 since 2001.

The soldiers, on their first deployment to Afghanistan, were on a foot patrol that involved only Australian troops in Uruzgan province, Hurley said.

One soldier died at the scene while the second was flown by helicopter to a hospital at the Australian military base in Tarin Kowt, where he died. An explosives detection dog was also killed in the blast.

“I think we’re just seeing a hard day in theater,” Hurley said. “There are a lot of troops in action, a lot going on at this present time, and this has just been a difficult day for us.”

NATO is readying its next major operation in Kandahar province, the Taliban movement’s birthplace — key to the Obama administration’s strategy of turning around the nearly nine-year war.

Australia is the largest contributor outside NATO to the Afghanistan campaign, with 1,550 troops. They are however under under NATO command.