Australian PM says Afghanistan is 'hellhole'

Australia’s prime minister made a surprise visit to the country’s troops in Afghanistan to wish them a merry Christmas in what he described as a “hellhole”.

Kevin Rudd flew in yesterday and spent a couple of hours on the ground with soldiers before flying to Abu Dhabi today. It was his second visit as prime minister to Afghanistan.

“I’m going to go home and spend Christmas with my wife and three kids and you’re not,” Mr Rudd told soldiers gathered at the Tarin Kowt base, describing the area as a “hellhole.”

“The nation will be thinking of you this week,” he said.

Australia has about 800 troops at the base, composed mainly of a reconstruction task force and a special forces unit.

“I was going to bring a crate load of beer, but that wasn’t allowed,” Mr Rudd joked, instead presenting the troops with a cricket set.

The prime minister’s visit, which was kept secret for security reasons until he left Afghanistan, follows recent trips by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and President George Bush.

Seven Australian soldiers have been killed in the war in Afghanistan since 2001.

Mr Rudd visited Afghanistan on the same day as a British soldier with dual Australian citizenship was killed in fighting in the southern Helmand province.