Australian Soldiers Face Manslaughter Charges Over Afghan Operation

Three former Australian soldiers who served in Afghanistan will be charged with manslaughter.

The country's top military prosecutor said the three were members of a special force involved in an operation that left six civilians dead and four wounded in February 2009.

Australia has about 1,500 troops in Afghanistan, including about 200 special forces and about 1,000 troops based at Tirin Kot, in Oruzgan Province, working on reconstruction and helping to train the Afghan National Army.

Meanwhile, a top U.S. military official says he will ask allied leaders for an increase of more than1,000 specialized trainers to support security forces training Afghan troops. Lieutenant General William Caldwell, the commander of the NATO Training Mission in Afghanistan, told "The Wall Street Journal" today that if the army does "not get the trainers we need, transition will be delayed."

compiled from Reuters reports