The deaths of two Australian soldiers in Afghanistan has cast a shadow over last-minute election campaigning in Australia.
The soldiers were killed and two others were wounded when an a roadside bomb went off while they were overseeing an Afghan army patrol in the Baluchi valley.
Both Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott extended their sympathies to the families of the soldiers.
Ms Gillard says that Australia's commitment to Afghanistan is a great weight for the country to bear but that it is necessary to ensure Afghanistan doesn't become a base for terrorists.
Twenty Australian soldiers have been killed there since 2001 - nine of them this year. The latest two, Private Grant Kirby, 35, and Private Thomas Dale, 21, were both on their first tour of duty in Afghanistan.
The war has not been an election issue because both Labor and the coalition agree that Australian troops should remain in Afghanistan. Labor expects the troops will need to remain for another two to four years.