The hunt for Osama bin Laden: Australian commando Paul Burns tells all

A veteran Aussie soldier has revealed he was part of one of world’s most elite military units, which involved missions behind enemy lines in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Paul Burns enjoyed a decorated career in the SAS.

A veteran South Australian soldier has revealed he was part of one of the world’s most elite military units, which involved missions behind enemy lines in Afghanistan and Iraq and hunting the world’s most wanted terrorist Osama bin Laden.

Naracoorte-born Paul Burns was a highly-skilled SAS commando involved in five tours to some of the most dangerous places on the planet during his 25-year career.

Following the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre in 2001, Mr Burns was deployed to Afghanistan for the first time, where he was part of an SAS unit hunting Osama bin Laden.

“It was an investigative-like process trying to track down bin Laden and all of his generals,” he told the Advertiser.

“There was a real sense of ‘ok this isn’t right and we need to make it right’.

“When the news came through (of bin Laden’s death), I felt a great sense of relief and accomplishment that after all those years we had finally got him.”

George W Bush caption: Former SAS commando Paul Burns meeting George W Bush. Picture: Supplied

The 53-year-old went on to do another two tours of Afghanistan, describing the extreme difficulties he faced fighting the Taliban.

“It was really bad, because they had no rule of conflict that applied to them,” he said.

“They were pure evil … they would behead men, women and children if the local population had anything to do with the Coalition.

“One minute they could be up in the mountains hiding and the next they would be hiding in plain sight – they just looked like everyone else.

“You would travel through a village and you wouldn’t know if they were Taliban and if they had an improvised explosive device (IED).

“There were no rules to what they were doing and it was just evil. They were completely unrestrained.”

Terror group al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan.

Mr Burns played a significant role in the June 2010 Battle of Tizak, where he and about 100 elite Australian soldiers were outnumbered and pinned down by well-trained Taliban fighters bombarding them with bullets and rocket-propelled grenades.

Before that battle, Mr Burns’ SAS team was part of the first Coalition unit to pass the borders into Iraq in 2003, playing a pivotal role in helping to overthrow notorious dictator Saddam Hussein and meeting US President George W Bush.

“We snuck over the border in the middle of the night, we were the first Coalition troops to make contact with Iraqi forces in the war,” he said.

“We were operating deep behind enemy lines with no real support, identifying if we could find any weapons of mass destruction.”

Veteran South Australian soldier Paul Burns took part in four tours to Afghanistan and Iraq between 2002 and 2009. Picture: Supplied

Growing up in country SA, Mr Burns said he became inspired after attending Anzac Day services in Naracoorte, Burra and Port Lincoln, deciding he wanted to become a soldier and training at the Royal Military College in Duntroon, Canberra during the 1990s.

He soon embarked on his first overseas deployment to Bosnia in 1998 following the Yugoslav Wars.

“You saw the very worst of human behaviour in a very civilised culture and country,” he said.

“Kids were going to school over there hiding behind tanks and getting shot at.”

Veteran South Australian soldier Paul Burns played a role in hunting down Osama bin Laden. Picture: Supplied

Veteran South Australian soldier Paul Burns. Picture: Supplied

Mr Burns features in the documentary Bravery & Betrayal, which recounts the efforts of the SAS in Afghanistan.

The film shows never before seen interviews with officers and soldiers of the SAS as well as interviews with former Prime Ministers Kevin Rudd, John Howard and Tony Abbott.

It is screening at the Capri Theatre on Goodwood Road on Wednesday, July 16 from 6pm.

Originally published as The hunt for Osama bin Laden: Australian commando Paul Burns tells all