Post by Chips on Mar 20, 2009 8:25:44 GMT 9.5
Corporal Matthew Hopkins ninth Digger to die in Afghanistan
staff writers
March 18, 2009 03:41pm
THE ninth Australian soldier killed in Afghanistan was Corporal Matthew Hopkins.
Cpl Hopkins was 21-years-old, and had a young wife and baby boy, Sky News reported.
He was killed in a Taliban ambush at a village about 12km north of the Australian base at Tarin Kowt, in the Baluchi Valley yesterday.
Eight of the nine Diggers to die in Afghanistan have been killed in the Baluchi Valley and the adjacent Chora Valley in Uruzgan province.
Cpl Hopkins was on foot patrol with fellow Diggers and Afghan soldiers when the Taliban sprang the first ambush of the 2009 fighting season, in lush meadows near the village of Kakarak.
They opened fire with AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades about 9.30am on Monday.
Cpl Hopkins , who suffered gunshot wounds, was put in a Black Hawk Medevac helicopter, but was dead on arrival at the Tarin Kowt field hospital.
The patrol radioed for urgent reinforcements, and help arrived in the form of two Dutch Apache helicopters whose 30mm chain guns and rockets routed the enemy.
Cpl Hokins was with the new Operational Mentor and Liaison Team.
The group was formed last year to train the Afghan military, with members participating in operations alongside their trainees, the first time Australian troops have done this since the Vietnam War.
The battle at Kakarak marks the start of the 2009 fighting season, when battle-hardened Taliban fighters emerge from their winter hibernation to attack coalition forces.
Another four coalition troops were killed last weekend.
Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon admitted that the coalition was not doing well in Afghanistan.
"I don't think we are necessarily winning or losing this war," he said.
Defence chief Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston said Australian soldiers were "fighting terrorism at its source".
"Regrettably we are going to sustain casualties," he said.
"If you are up against 20 people who are well-armed and engaging you with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms, there is going to be considerable risk."
Air Chief Marshal Houston warned of an upsurge in fighting as the weather improves.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told Parliament he was deeply saddened by Cpl Hopkins's death.
Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull said all Australians were indebted to this "the greatest sacrifice in our name".
As well as the nine Diggers to die in Afghanistan, more than 60 have been wounded.
The 1100-strong Australian contingent is helping train local soldiers as the Afghan government expands its army from 80,000 to 130,000.
staff writers
March 18, 2009 03:41pm
THE ninth Australian soldier killed in Afghanistan was Corporal Matthew Hopkins.
Cpl Hopkins was 21-years-old, and had a young wife and baby boy, Sky News reported.
He was killed in a Taliban ambush at a village about 12km north of the Australian base at Tarin Kowt, in the Baluchi Valley yesterday.
Eight of the nine Diggers to die in Afghanistan have been killed in the Baluchi Valley and the adjacent Chora Valley in Uruzgan province.
Cpl Hopkins was on foot patrol with fellow Diggers and Afghan soldiers when the Taliban sprang the first ambush of the 2009 fighting season, in lush meadows near the village of Kakarak.
They opened fire with AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades about 9.30am on Monday.
Cpl Hopkins , who suffered gunshot wounds, was put in a Black Hawk Medevac helicopter, but was dead on arrival at the Tarin Kowt field hospital.
The patrol radioed for urgent reinforcements, and help arrived in the form of two Dutch Apache helicopters whose 30mm chain guns and rockets routed the enemy.
Cpl Hokins was with the new Operational Mentor and Liaison Team.
The group was formed last year to train the Afghan military, with members participating in operations alongside their trainees, the first time Australian troops have done this since the Vietnam War.
The battle at Kakarak marks the start of the 2009 fighting season, when battle-hardened Taliban fighters emerge from their winter hibernation to attack coalition forces.
Another four coalition troops were killed last weekend.
Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon admitted that the coalition was not doing well in Afghanistan.
"I don't think we are necessarily winning or losing this war," he said.
Defence chief Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston said Australian soldiers were "fighting terrorism at its source".
"Regrettably we are going to sustain casualties," he said.
"If you are up against 20 people who are well-armed and engaging you with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms, there is going to be considerable risk."
Air Chief Marshal Houston warned of an upsurge in fighting as the weather improves.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd told Parliament he was deeply saddened by Cpl Hopkins's death.
Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull said all Australians were indebted to this "the greatest sacrifice in our name".
As well as the nine Diggers to die in Afghanistan, more than 60 have been wounded.
The 1100-strong Australian contingent is helping train local soldiers as the Afghan government expands its army from 80,000 to 130,000.