Blast kills Australian soldier in Afghan south

Australian soldiers take part in a training exercise in Afghanistan in this July 31, 2002 handout file picture. Australia suffered its first combat fatality in the war on terror on Monday when a soldier was killed in a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan, said the Australian defense department.

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A roadside bomb killed an Australian soldier in southern Afghanistan on Monday, the first Australian combat fatality in the war on terror.

Another soldier was wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated next to their vehicle in Uruzgan province, the Australian defense department said in a statement.

Australia, a close U.S. ally, was one of the first nations to commit troops in late 2001 to the U.S. led war to oust the Taliban and al Qaeda militants from Afghanistan.

"This is a tragic day for the Australian Defense Force and our thoughts are with the families and friends of the two soldiers involved," said the statement. The department said the wounded soldier's injuries were not life threatening.

Australia has 385 troops in a reconstruction team under Dutch command in Uruzgan and another 300 commandos and special forces there involved in hunting down militants.

It also has about 1,500 troops in and around Iraq.

Violence has surged to its worst level in the past 20 months in Afghanistan, the bloodiest period since U.S.-led troops and Afghan forces overthrew the Taliban government in 2001.

Separately on Monday, a suicide bomber missed his target in a neighboring province, wounding three children instead of hitting a convoy of Western troops, witnesses said.

The blast happened close to a government building in Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital of Helmand, a long-time bastion for Taliban insurgents and the main drug-producing region of the world's largest source of heroin.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Taliban largely rely on roadside attacks and suicide raids as part of their campaign against the Afghan government and foreign troops stationed in the country.

(Additional reporting by Michael Perry in Sydney)