One soldier was killed instantly. The second was given emergency first aid by his fellow soldiers and taken to a nearby hospital but later died. Lieutenant-General Hurley said the two soldiers, who were part of a foot patrol, were evacuated to the Tarin Kowt base by helicopter following the explosion. "It was about 10 minutes out to the site and back. "It was 38 minutes from wheels off, from the incident being announced, to the two soldiers returning to the base." Lieutenant-General Hurley said Monday had been "a hard day in theatre".

"There's a lot of troops in action and a lot going on. "This has just been a difficult day for us." He said military investigators were already looking into the deaths. "We have sent in our weapons intelligence team to conduct a technical inspection," he said. Asked if the NATO-led coalition was winning the almost decade long war, he said: "Bodies aren't going to tell whether you win or lose this war.

"Some good things are happening and we're heading in the right direction." Lieutenant-General Hurley said it was the first time since the Vietnam war that two Australian soldiers had died in combat on the same day. 10 NATO soldiers killed In total 10 NATO soldiers were killed on Monday. Lieutenant-General Hurley said there were no other Australian or Afghan casualties.

"However, an explosive detection dog also died in the incident," he said. An investigation will be held to determine the "exact details of the incident". "I speak for the entire ADF [Australian Defence Force] and Defence community when I tell you I am deeply saddened by the loss of these two brave Australian soldiers," Lieutenant-General Hurley said. Houston devastated Defence force chief Angus Houston in a statement read out by his deputy said he was devastated to hear about the deaths.

"Foremost in my thoughts at this time are the families of these two soldiers ... who today are suffering overwhelming shock and anguish." It was too early for words to provide comfort to the families of the men, but Air Chief Marshal Houston said he wanted them to know both were outstanding Australians. "Quietly serving our nation and demonstrating every day the very best of what Aussies pride themselves on displaying to the world - courage, determination, mateship and selfless service." He also had a message to Australian troops still serving in Afghanistan. "I ask you to look after and support each other.

"We will support you but I need you to make sure you seek any assistance that you may need to come to terms with your loss. "Draw strength from one another and pay tribute to your mates." Air Chief Marshal Houston, who is overseas with Senator Faulkner, asked the media to respect the wish of the families not to make public the names of the dead soldiers. Constant dangers: Faulkner The deaths were a reminder of the constant dangers faced by Australian troops in Afghanistan, Defence Minister John Faulkner said in a statement, which was read out by Defence Personnel Minister Greg Combet.

"While all Australians will mourn along with those two families, the immensity of their grief cannot be shared," Senator Faulkner said. "The manner of their deaths from an insidious and indiscriminate improvised explosive device again shows the callous and truly despicable nature of our enemy." It was a great loss to the nation and Senator Faulkner sent his sincere condolences to the families of both men. Seven US soldiers killed Five US soldiers were killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) in eastern Afghanistan, while another American died in a separate IED attack and the seventh one from small arms fire in the south, said Lieutenant Colonel Beth Robbins in Washington. Three other NATO service members from other countries were also killed in attacks on Monday, two of whom were the Australians.

The French government announced that one of the deaths was a sergeant in the French Foreign Legion. French President Nicolas Sarkozy "forcefully condemned this blind violence and expressed France's determination to continue working as part of the International Security Assistance Force [ISAF]", his office said. Suicide attack on an Afghan police training centre Separately, two foreign contractors, one of them an American, were killed on Monday in a suicide attack on an Afghan police training centre in the southern city of Kandahar, the US embassy said. Three militants armed with bombs and guns were killed in the attack. One of the rebels detonated a bomb-filled car along the wall of the facility hoping to punch open a route for his comrades, the interior ministry said in Kabul.

The two others were shot dead by police guards, ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary told AFP. There was no claim of responsibility for the bombing but Afghanistan's Taliban is leading a nearly nine-year insurgency to bring down the Western-backed government and evict foreign troops. Elsewhere, in the southern province of Ghazni, police said five Afghan security guards were killed in two separate attacks while they were escorting NATO logistics convoys. "There were two roadside bomb attacks against the convoys in Andar and Ab Band districts. Three guards were killed in Andar district and two were killed in Ab Band district," said Ghazni police chief Khial Baz Shairzai. NATO, US and Afghan troops are preparing their biggest offensive yet against the Taliban in Kandahar province, with total foreign troop numbers in the country set to peak at 150,000 by August.

US President Barack Obama hopes the counter-insurgency strategy focused on the south can allow US troops to start withdrawing next year. According to an AFP tally, based on one kept by the independent website icasualties.org, 245 foreign soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan so far this year. Last year was the deadliest yet with 520 killed. Monday's toll was the highest for a single day since the deaths of 11 French soldiers on one day in August 2008. The latest deaths follow Sunday's killings of five NATO soldiers, four of them Americans, in two separate attacks and a vehicle accident. Plan to reintegrate Taliban fighters In Madrid, US special envoy Richard Holbrooke said more funds for Afghanistan's plan to reintegrate Taliban fighters who renounce violence were likely to be pledged next month at a conference in Kabul.

The July 20 conference is a follow-up to a London summit in January, when donors pledged an initial $US140 million to a so-called Afghanistan Peace and Reconciliation Programme trust fund. "Almost $US200 million has been committed under a programme led by the Japanese ... and there will more developments on this at the Kabul conference," Mr Holbrooke said. US soldier charged with murdering civilians In Washington a US army spokeswoman said an American soldier had been charged with the murder of three civilians in Afghanistan and four others had been implicated but not charged in the crimes. Loading

Specialist Jeremy Morlock, 22, was charged on Friday with premeditated murder and assault in three separate incidents that occurred in Kandahar province between January and May this year. AFP, AAP and Paul Tatnell

