Australian Military Chief Targets Taliban In Afghanistan

Canberra, Australia (AHN) - The Australian military on Wednesday announced it will intensify its campaign against Taliban militants in Afghanistan in response to the death of an Australian solider in a roadside bomb explosion on Tuesday.

Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, chief of Australia's defense, said the death of 25-year-old Signaller Sean McCarthy, a member of the army's special forces, will only strengthen their resolve in the fight against terrorists in Afghanistan.

McCarthy, a member of the Special Service Regiment, was conducting patrol operations in southern Afghanistan Tuesday when an improvised explosive device exploded near his vehicle. Two other Australian soldiers were injured.

Houston's statement came a day after the United Nations Security Council extended by another 18 months the mandate of the monitoring team concerned with sanctions against the al-Qaida terror network and its ally the Taliban.

A resolution signed by the 15-member UNSC said, "terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to peace and security and that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable regardless of their motivations."

UNSC urges member-states to vigorously cut the flow of funds and other financial assets of the al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden, and the Taliban and other groups or individuals associated with them.

Houston said, "This loss ... will be a trigger for more and more active operations against those people who produce these dreadful weapons. This will harden our resolve to keep theseTaliban leaders, these Taliban bomb makers, under pressure, we will continue to go after them and we will continue to disrupt their activities.