April 26, 2009, 6:58 am
Australian soldiers in Afghanistan have killed about 80 Taliban fighters in a major operation.
Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon, who secretly visited troops "outside the wire" in Oruzgan Province before attending an Anzac Day dawn service at Tarin Kowt, said on Saturday the firefights occurred as part of two combat missions by Special Forces and other allied troops over a three-week period.
He said other soldiers involved in mentoring the Afghan National Army had cleared an area where Taliban insurgents killed Australian Corporal Mathew Hopkins last month, Fairfax newspapers reported.
"I think too often they hear the bad news, particularly when we suffer fatal casualties. I think these briefings are important to demonstrate that we are making real progress," Mr Fitzgibbon said.
The latest battle, against 40 insurgents, 12km from Australia's main base at Tarin Kowt, is being hailed as a major blow to the Taliban .
Members of the Australian Special Operations Task Group and the Mentoring and Reconstruction Task Force began the operation in March.
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