An Australian soldier has been killed and another seriously wounded by an improvised bomb in Afghanistan, the Defense Force confirmed on Thursday.
The soldier was named Corporal Richard Edward Atkinson, 22, who was on his first deployment to Afghanistan and was engaged to be married. A second soldier was seriously wounded, Xinhua reported.
According to acting chief of the defense force, Lieutenant General David Hurley, both men were conducting a dismounted partnered security control with the Afghan National Army before the incident.
The Australian solders then moved quickly to secure the site and help their comrades, when the blast took place in the Deh Rahwod region of Oruzgan province about 9:30 a.m. Afghanistan time on Wednesday.
General Hurley said the wounded soldier was in a satisfactory condition in the Tarin Kowt hospital, and both soldiers' families had been notified.
At the time of the incident, weather conditions in Oruzgan were very bad, with rain, low cloud and large dust storms seriously reducing visibility. General Hurley said it has created some initial problems launching the aero-medical evacuation helicopter.
"But the U.S. aircrew persevered in the dangerous conditions to get the aircraft off the ground in a few minutes," he said. "Their actions meant the wounded Australians reached the medical facility at Tarin Kowt within an hour."
No civilians were involved in the incident.
Twenty-two Australian soldiers have now died in Afghanistan since operations began in 2001.