The death of a ninth Australian soldier in Afghanistan will not diminish Canberra's commitment to bringing stability to the Central Asian country, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Tuesday. The soldier in a joint Australian-Afghan army patrol was shot dead during a «very intense firefight» with 20 Taliban insurgents in Uruzgan province in southern Afghanistan Monday morning, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston said Tuesday. The soldier's name has not been released, Associated Press reported. Rudd told Parliament the «government remains committed to confronting the ongoing threat from international terrorism and bringing greater stability to Afghanistan.»
