Thursday, 22 June 2006Australian Prime Minister John Howard says the country's forces in Iraq will be shifting to a more dangerous role.
Howard says the new functions will include training Iraqi forces, providing them with intelligence, and backing them up "in extreme cases through direct military action."
Australia has some 900 troops in Iraq but the majority of them have been in noncombat roles.
Meanwhile, the Australian Defense Force (ADF) on June 21 confirmed that its troops mistakenly opened fire on the bodyguards of Iraq's trade minister in Baghdad, killing one of them and wounding three.
In a statement, the ADF said that it "deeply regrets" the death and injuries. The ADF says it is conducting an investigation into the shooting.
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Thursday, 22 June 2006
Radio Free Europe
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