Diggers recall day Afghan soldier turned gun upon them

AN AUSTRALIAN lance-corporal and private are all too aware of how lucky they were to cheat death at the hands of an Afghan soldier they had lived and worked alongside for weeks.

Just 11 days after a rogue Afghan soldier murdered three Australians and an interpreter at a patrol base in Kandahar province, another Afghan turned his gun on his Australian mentors, wounding three Diggers at a base called Nisar in the narrow Mirabad Valley.

It was late afternoon on November 8, and the handful of Australians at Nisar were looking forward to a barbecue to celebrate their last night at the base. Some of them were watching a movie - the World War II adventure flick Where Eagles Dare - with their Afghan colleagues.     More Read