Al-Qaeda operatives in Iraq yesterday boasted that Australians there were now targets for their terror strikes. The Daily Telegraph can reveal that in Wednesday's explosion, Warrant Officer David Thompson was one of two Australian soldiers who suffered minor shrapnel wounds to his face and neck. WO Thompson had been in Iraq just a few weeks when terrorists rammed a truck packed with explosives into the soldiers' barracks he now calls home, directly across from the Australian Embassy. Like more than 100 other Australian soldiers at the barracks, WO Thompson was preparing to start the day when the truck detonated just after 7am on Wednesday, shattering windows at the nearby embassy and filling the sky with shrapnel. WO Thompson, 35, told his superiors he had no intention of returning home and vowed to stay and do his job, protecting embassy staff from future terrorist attacks. He then called home in Australia, telling his wife, Vanessa, he was safe and eager to resume his post. The Government admitted yesterday that Iraq's dire security situation had delayed the embassy being moved several kilometres to the secure precinct known as the Green Zone. Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said the Government decided in May 2003 to move the embassy from its location in a busy Baghdad shopping precinct to the Green Zone. Opposition defence spokesman Robert McClelland said the Government must fast-track the relocation of the embassy and give details of any threats to other embassies around the world. "Quite clearly if we can get the embassy to a safer location and those protective troops stationed around the embassy, clearly we're going to reduce the risk of further attacks," he said. "The Government should be moving the Australian Embassy in a matter of weeks, not months." But Mr Ruddock said the Government was working as fast as possible to relocate the mission, but poor infrastructure and security concerns were hampering its efforts. "We are trying to get it in place as soon as possible," Mr Ruddock said. "It should be completed during the course of this year. But the security environment and relevant infrastructure, of course, make undertaking work of that sort quite challenging for those who are engaged." The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it hoped the move would take place sometime this year. Mr Ruddock said it was important diplomatic staff remained in Iraq in the lead-up to the elections on January 30.