Foreign Minister Marise Payne has condemned comments made by a Taliban official who claimed the 41 Australian soldiers killed during the war in Afghanistan "died in vain".
In an interview with the Nine Network broadcast on Wednesday, Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen said the soldiers "died in our country, occupying our country".
"If my country's forces go invade your country, occupy your country and they die, what would you say? Would you say they come here for something illegal? It was their right to invade your country? The same applies to my country, Afghanistan," he said.
Senator Payne later told 2GB radio she found the comments to be "repugnant".
"I find that repugnant," she said.
"I find those sorts of statements, which are dismissive of the contribution that Australia in this case, and the international community has endeavoured to make in Afghanistan over so many years, deeply disappointing."
"We will ultimately judge the Taliban and the regime it establishes on their actions, not just their words. There is a requirement for them to deliver in terms of the future of Afghanistan."
In the interview, the Taliban spokesperson also disputed claims Australians had been attacked by Taliban gunmen during recent efforts to evacuate people from the country via Kabul airport.
"There is no one targeting them, or their life is at risk, no!" he said.
Last week, ISIS-K, the regional affiliate of the self-proclaimed Islamic State group active in Afghanistan and Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the twin suicide attack on Kabul airport.
The Taliban is working to "eradicate" the group and "strongly condemns" the incident, the spokesperson said.
"They will be eradicated soon."
"We have the stability and we have our intelligence department working day and night to detect them and arrest them."
