Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard cut short her trip to a major Pacific summit on Wednesday after five of the nation’s troops were killed in two separate incidents in Afghanistan.
Gillard cancelled all appointments at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in the Cook Islands so she could return to Canberra after Australia’s worst day for casualties since the war started.
Her departure means she will miss a visit to the 15-nation forum later this week by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the most senior official from Washington to ever attend the summit.
Gillard said she had explained to Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Puna that she had to return home on Wednesday evening after the “shocking” news and he expressed his condolences over the deaths.
“In the wake of this news, I have made the judgement call that it is appropriate for me to return,” she told reporters at the summit. “That will mean I can be in Canberra tomorrow to receive the most extensive briefing.”
She said Richard Marles, the Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs, would represent her at the summit.
The deaths included three troops killed in an “insider attack” by an Afghan soldier in southern Uruzgan province and two special forces members whose helicopter crashed in Helmand province.