Aussies in Afghanistan, Insurgents and Karzai

[Placid Dingo]

A statement from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) says Australian and Afghan troops hunting the killer of Lance Corporal Stjepan Milosevic, 40, Sapper James Martin, 21, and Private Robert Poate, 23, have captured "a key facilitator".

"Operating shoulder to shoulder, the Afghan and coalition soldiers successfully captured a key facilitator who not only enabled the insider attack, but also was responsible for IED (improvised explosive device) emplacement, and the kidnapping and murder of Afghan civilians," the ISAF statement said.

It said the operation was planned and executed in co-ordination with Afghan officials including approval by the Oruzgan provincial governor.

Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai has hit out at the Australian military for killing two Afghan men during a search for the rogue soldier who shot dead three Australian troops last week.

The men - identified by the Afghan government as 70-year-old imam Haji Raz Mohammad and his 30-year-old son Abdul Jalil - were killed on Friday night.

The deaths occurred during a raid in which Australian soldiers captured a suspected insurgent leader who is thought to have been helping Hek Matullah, the Afghan soldier who killed three Australian soldiers in a green on blue attack last week, to escape.

Mr Karzai claimed the Australian soldiers acted unilaterally, breaching an agreement to give Afghan forces oversight of night raids.

"The president condemns the operation as a breach of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Afghanistan and NATO on the special military operations," a statement released by the Afghan government reads.

"President Karzai has also instructed the relevant authorities to launch a full and an all-out probe into the incident so that Afghan government can take a stand as required on the violation of the mutual agreement."