Australian soldier wounded by insurgent gunfire

Australian soldier wounded by insurgent gunfire

A Mentoring Task Force – 3 (MTF-3) soldier was wounded when a partnered patrol with the Afghan National Army came under fire from insurgents in eastern Uruzgan province overnight.

The incident occurred on the afternoon of Thursday, 10 November 2011 (local time), in the Deh Rafshan region, 12 kilometres east of Multi National Base – Tarin Kot (MNB-TK).

Acting Chief of Joint Operations, Rear Admiral David Johnston, said the patrol initially came under small arms fire from a group of insurgents earlier that morning and had been involved in a series of skirmishes through to the afternoon.

“The insurgents, who were armed with automatic weapons, engaged the Australian and Afghan soldiers several times over an extended period of time,” Rear Admiral Johnston said.

“The Australian soldier was struck by insurgent small-arms fire, approximately four hours after the fighting commenced.”

The wounded soldier received immediate first aid and was promptly evacuated by helicopter to the Role 2 Medical Facility at Multi National Base - Tarin Kot (MNB-TK).

He was subsequently transferred to the ISAF Role 3 Medical Facility at Kandahar for specialist review and further treatment.

The wounded soldier has been assessed as being stable and in a satisfactory condition. His family has been notified.

This incident is unrelated to the ongoing operation to locate the Afghan National Army soldier accused of shooting three Australian and two Afghan troops at Patrol Base Nasir (Charmeston) on 9 November 2011.

To date, 48 personnel have been wounded in Afghanistan this year. A total of 213 Australian Defence Force personnel have been wounded in Afghanistan since 2001.

ENDS

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