The names of the latest three diggers to be killed in Afghanistan will not be added to the Australian War Memorial honour roll in time for next Friday's Remembrance Day ceremony, an AWM spokeswoman has said.
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Captain Bryce Duffy, 26, Corporal Ashley Birt, 22, and Lance Corporal Luke Gavin, 29, were shot and killed on Saturday by Afghan National Army lieutenant Darwish Khan, who they had been mentoring.
Seven other diggers were injured.
Zarif Alkozai, the father of Khan, has expressed his condolences to the families of the dead and wounded Australians.
He said his son was not a member of the Taliban and had not been a terrorist.
The three fallen diggers were honoured at a ramp ceremony at Tarin Kowt on Tuesday morning.
Major-General Angus Campbell, the commander of ADF personnel in the Middle East, said, ''In true Anzac spirit they gave their all because they believed they were making a difference for the people of Afghanistan.''
Since 2004 the AWM honour roll has been updated with the names of the latest war dead each December.
In previous conflicts names were not added until the end of the war.
''This is something the Australian War Memorial takes quite solemnly,'' a spokeswoman said.
''There are protocols and the AWM consults with the families.''
She said this process was not something to be rushed. ''We allow the families time to grieve.''
And, in this case, there was a risk unveiling names on the memorial could detract from private funeral arrangements.
It is expected the names of the three will be unveiled on Remembrance Day next year.
Captain Duffy, Corporal Birt and Lance Corporal Gavin are the 31st, 32nd and 33rd Australian soldiers to die in Afghanistan since February 2002.
Their loss brings the toll for the year to 11 so far and makes this the deadliest year for the Australian Defence Force there to date.
