Australian soldier killed in Afghanistan

The death of another Australian soldier will not change the government's commitment to the war in Afghanistan, the prime minister says.

Private Nathan Bewes, 23, is the sixth Australian soldier to die in Afghanistan in a little over a month, increasing pressure on the government to withdraw troops from the war-torn nation.

Pte Bewes, a member of the First Mentoring Task Force who was on his second tour in Afghanistan, was killed in a roadside bomb blast just before midnight (AEST) on Friday, taking the Australian death toll in Afghanistan to 17.

Chief of the Defence Force Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston said a second Australian soldier suffered minor wounds and remained in a satisfactory condition in hospital in Tarin Kowt.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the latest loss increased the determination of the soldiers serving in Afghanistan to get the job done.

"There will be Australians today who are asking themselves in the face of this loss why as a country do we continue to pursue our mission there," she told reporters in Darwin, ahead of the funeral of one of three Australian soldiers killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan last month.

"We pursue that mission because Afghanistan is a safe haven for terrorists.

"I believe Australia, while mourning these losses, will understand our continuing determination."

Six Australian soldiers have died and 43 have been injured in Afghanistan this year.

Since 2001, 17 Australian soldiers have died and 143 have been injured in Afghanistan.

Ms Gillard said the government had always been frank with the Australian people about the difficulty of the task in Afghanistan "but we are proceeding through it".

"... our soldiers are going about this difficult and dangerous task as best it can be done," she said.

"But there is no degree of skill or training or equipment that can take away the dangers. This is dangerous work and we are seeing the outcome of the dangers that our soldiers face."

Defence Minister John Faulkner said there had been steady progress in Afghanistan.

He expected that in two to four years the mission would transition to a supporting role.

"I have acknowledged progress is not as fast as some would like to see but I still believe there has been a change in momentum in Afghanistan," Senator Faulkner said.

Three Australian commandos died and another seven were injured in last month's helicopter crash in Afghanistan, the largest loss of life in any incident in Australia's near decade of involvement.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said it was important for the troops to know that they had the support of all Australians.

"Australians are immensely proud of the men and women of the Australian Defence Force and I acknowledge the resolute bravery of our soldiers who continue to work and conduct patrols in Afghanistan," he said.

Pte Bewes, from the Brisbane-based Sixth Battalion The Royal Australian Regiment (6RAR), had only recently returned to Afghanistan from a holiday in Australia.

"The army was his lifelong passion. It was all he wanted," his father Gary, mother Kaye and sister Stephanie Bewes said in a statement released by Defence.

"When he was on leave from Afghanistan in June all he could talk about was getting back to the deployment and his mates."

Born in Kogarah in NSW, Pte Bewes joined the army cadets as a 13-year-old and had been a soldier for five years, serving two deployments in Afghanistan and one in East Timor.

"He was an excellent soldier who was willing to put his life in danger, along with his mates from Team 3, for the people of Australia," Pte Bewes' partner Alice Walsh said.

Pte Bewes and the injured soldier, who has not been named, were part of an Australian patrol conducting operations in the Chora Valley in the Oruzgan province. The incident occurred in an area known as the green zone.

"This latest fatality and battle casualty further deepens the feeling of loss on what is already a very sad day," Air Chief Marshal Houston said, as hundreds of people attended a funeral service for Private Scott Palmer in Darwin on Saturday.