The court action follows an operation in February last year to clear a compound in Uruzgan province where Australian forces believed a Taliban leader was hiding.

Director of Military Prosecutions Brigadier Lyn McDade said the three "will be charged with various service offences, including manslaughter, dangerous conduct, failing to comply with a lawful general order and prejudicial conduct".

A suspected insurgent was also killed in the night raid, while four people were wounded. Two of the servicemen said they would vigorously fight the charges, which are being laid after an Australian military investigation.

"We will strenuously defend the charges and we look forward to the opportunity of publicly clearing our reputations, as well as the reputation of the Australian Defence Force," they said through their lawyers.

A defence department spokesman said at least one special operations soldier will face a manslaughter charge, along with a count of dangerous conduct.

Another of the accused has been charged with failing to comply with a lawful order while the charges against the third accused have not yet been released because the soldier is travelling overseas.

Local media earlier said the case stems from a night-time "capture or kill" mission, involving about 30 Australian soldiers, in which troops exchanged fire with an Afghan man.

The man died, as did five children -- including two babies -- after grenades were thrown, while other women and children were injured, the Sydney Morning Herald said.

The paper said no military historians it had contacted could recall a previous case where Australian soldiers had been charged over the deaths of civilians in battle.

The defence department said it would not engage in any commentary on the case, but the two accused protested their innocence, saying their actions were justified under the "truly awful circumstances".

"It should not be forgotten that the casualties were ultimately caused by the callous and reckless act of an insurgent who chose to repeatedly fire upon us at extreme close range from within a room he knew contained women and children," they said in a statement issued through their lawyers.

The military said all three would be supported throughout the trial, which is expected to begin in early 2011.

"Consistent with the presumption of innocence, these members will receive the full support of the Australian Defence Force," Australia's military chief Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston said.

Civilian deaths are a sensitive issue in Afghanistan, where almost 150,000 foreign soldiers from NATO and the United States are battling a Taliban insurgency.

The United Nations reported last month that 1,271 civilians died in violence between January and June this year, with the Taliban responsible for 76 percent of the deaths.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the development would not impact Australia's 1,550-strong mission to the Central Asian country where troops are training local soldiers.

Our rules of engagement in Afghanistan and our mission there remain the same," she said.

earlier related report
US army mulls war crimes charges over Afghan killings
Joint Base Lewis-Mcchord, Washington (AFP) Sept 27, 2010 - US army chiefs heard testimony Monday about how a soldier allegedly killed three Afghan civilians for fun, in a potentially explosive case for the military.

But the first day of pre-trial hearings -- focused on one of a group of soldiers accused, Specialist Jeremy Morlock -- was marred when many of the witnesses, and three of those accused, invoked their right to remain silent.

Authorities say five of 12 troops on trial opened fire on Afghan civilians in unprovoked assaults over several months in southern Kandahar province, with the rest accused of dismembering bodies and removing bones.

Monday's hearing -- opened by investigation leader Colonel Thomas Molloy -- focused on Morlock, 22, of Wasilla, Alaska, who faces charges of premeditated murder in the deaths of three Afghans killed between January and May this year.

Morlock, bags under his eyes and looking younger than his years, is one of five soldiers charged with murder in the case, while seven others are accused of trying to block the investigation.

They also facing charges of using hashish and severely beating a comrade in retaliation for blowing the whistle.

But at the start of Monday's hearings prosecuting lawyers said that about 10 key witnesses -- three of them accused -- had decided to use their right to silence.

The first session's hearings therefore focused on testimony from officers who led the investigation last May, and who interrogated Morlock.

Under questioning, Morlock admitted taking part in different scenarios leading to the deaths of civilians, according to special agent Shannon Richey, giving evidence by telephone from Afghanistan.

Morlock's lawyer Michael Waddington argued in mitigation that the young soldier was on medication when he was questioned.

"In May 2010, he was receiving medical treatment, for brain injury. He had nausea. He was taking sleeping pills," he said.

The soldiers were deployed with Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, from the 2nd Infantry Division's Stryker brigade, at Forward Operating Base Ramrod.

The military hearing at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, south of Tacoma in Washington state, will determine if there is enough evidence to proceed to trial, with more hearings due in the coming weeks for the other defendants.

The case could have explosive ramifications for the war effort as US-led forces try to win over local Afghans and counter Taliban insurgents in the pivotal Kandahar battlefield.

The charge sheets include macabre allegations of dismembering corpses, though authorities have not specified if the bones were taken from the slain civilians.

The father of one of the accused, Specialist Adam Winfield, has told US media that his son warned him via Facebook that his unit had killed an Afghan civilian for no reason and was plotting to commit more murders.

US officials acknowledge they are concerned about the fallout from the case, which threatens to undermine efforts by the American military to avoid civilian casualties and secure the confidence of wary Afghans.

The allegations have yet to be proven but are "serious nonetheless," Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell said earlier this month. Even if the accusations are found to be false, the case "is unhelpful," he added.

"The people in that area who are impacted by these alleged incidents will think differently of us as a result of that."

But he said the charges represented "an aberration" for an American force of nearly 100,000 in Afghanistan.

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