THE insider murder of three Diggers last week has led to Australian special operations troops suspending training of Afghan Special Forces soldiers under a NATO ban.
Defence was last night unable to say if the ban would have any effect on the training of Afghan troops by non-special forces Diggers in Oruzgan.
However, a review has been under way since the deaths of three Australian soldiers last Wednesday in a "green on blue" attack by a rogue Afghan soldier.
As Australian troops last night confirmed capturing an insurgent leader linked to last week's suspected killer, NATO and the US said training of Afghan local police and Afghan special operations forces would be suspended for one or two months.
The move will affect up to 30,000 of more than 350,000 Afghan National Army soldiers who will be re-vetted to weed out any rats in the ranks after more than 40 insider murders this year and more than 110 in total in Afghanistan.
The bodies of five Australian soldiers who were killed in Afghanistan last week. Picture: ADF Source: Herald Sun
Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Defence Minister Stephen Smith and the Defence Department did not return calls last night.
The moves will raise new questions over Australia's presence in Afghanistan as the commitment faced further pressure after Afghani President Hamid Karzai strongly rebuked Australian troops for killing two men while hunting the rogue soldier who killed the three Aussie Diggers.
Australian soldiers reportedly shot dead a 70-year-old man and his 30-year-old son in an operation yesterday condemned as unauthorised.
"The Australian soldiers shot the men and took nine others in to custody in an operation President Karzai said was not authorised," an Afghanistan government statement said.
But last night an Australian Defence Force spokesman rejected claims the August 31 mission was unapproved, confirming two deaths of "suspected insurgents" who were "both positively identified as taking direct part in hostilities and were engaged in accordance with the rules of engagement".
Twelve people had been detained and all of them released - except one who was confirmed as an insurgent leader with links to the escape of Sgt Hek Mattulah, the Afghan National Army soldier believed to be responsible for the Aussie killings.
Australian soldiers honour their comrades who were killed last week in Afghanistan. Picture: ADF Source: Herald Sun
"The mission was approved in accordance with normal processes," the spokesman said.
A senior NATO source described President Karzai's statement as "bizarre" and they were speculating about his motivation.
The source described the individuals who were both killed and detained as being "extremely well connected".
The developments came as Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr was forced to slap down calls from Labor ranks for an early troop withdrawal, saying it would damage Australia's reputation on the world stage.
While Deputy Speaker and Labor MP Anna Burke has called for a rethink, Senator Carr insisted Australia had to leave behind a functional Afghan government.
"If we suddenly said, 'We are out of there now', I think there would be an enormous loss to Australia's reputation," he said.
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