Australian soldier killed

An Australian SAS soldier was fatally injured fighting in Afghanistan yesterday. He was on patrol in Oruzgan Province when he was severely wounded by small-arms fire from Taleban fighters.

Defence head Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston said in Canberra late last night that a helicopter flew him to a nearby medical facility but "despite the best efforts of his mates and the aeromedical team the soldier succumbed to his wounds".

His family had been informed. On October 8, another Australian soldier, Trooper David Pearce, was killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan.