TheAustralianPost.com

Two more Australian soldiers were killed in Baluchi Valley, Afghanistan

Australian and Afghan troops joint patrol in Baluchi Valley, Afghanistan, where two Australian soldiers were killed by roadside bomb. Photo: Defence
Two Australian soldiers Private Grant Kirby, 35-year-old who was a father of two and Private Tomas Dale who was 21 were killed in Afghanistan when improvised explosive device went off near their Australian Bushmaster vehicle.
The two Brisbane-based soldiers, member of the 6th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment who were part of the 1st Mentoring Task Force training Afghan troops were on foot when the bomb exploded killing them and wounding tow the two other men who where inside the vehicle, but their injuries are not life-threatening.
It was their first deployment in Afghanistan, but Private Kirby had been deployed overseas and veteran of Iraq and East Timor. The incident took place in Baluchi Valley where Australian and Afghan troops were patrolling. They are 19th and 20th Australian soldier to die in Afghanistan and 8th and 9th to die this year.

Private Grant Kirby, 35, loving father with his daughters Isabella and Madeleine. Photo: Kirby Family | Defence