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New Zealand army commanders are standing by their claim that
Special Air Service (SAS) soldiers were fired on first during a
raid that killed two Afghan security guards and wounded two others
on Christmas Eve.
The two New Zealand soldiers were in a NATO team caught in a gun
battle during the raid on a Kabul factory.
The factory's owner has told ONE News that it was the NATO soldiers who fired first.
Two investigations by Afghan authorities and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) are now underway over the alleged "botched" raid.
Critics, both in New Zealand and in Afghanistan, say the secrecy still surrounding the raid is concerning.
The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) yesterday confirmed the elite soldiers were part of a joint operation which ended with the deaths of two civilian guards.
The NZDF said a joint Afghan National Security Force (ANSF) and the ISAF patrol had moved to "an area of interest" near an office building in downtown Kabul.
Intelligence reports had indicated there were two vehicles parked there, that were thought to be loaded with explosives.
During the operation, the soldiers had come under fire from armed security guards and the patrol was forced to act in self defence, resulting in the death of two guards, NZDF said.
In a statement, Commander Phil Bradshaw said the raid took place to prevent an attack on the US embassy.
The NZDF also revealed that a large number of weapons were found during the operation.
Centre for Strategic Studies spokesman Lance Beath said as far as the international troops were concerned, it was a legitimate raid.
"I'd be astonished if it turns out in the two investigations ... that the New Zealand SAS opened fire first. That would be completely contrasting to their standard rules of engagement."
But factory owner Nawid Shah Sakhizada said it was the SAS troops who fired on his workers and they did not return any shots.
"When my guards come up into our room and said that this is ISAF firing, what shall we do? We just say that, OK, you are not allowed to fire, to shoot them. From the beginning our security guards did not fire on them."
Hiding in an office with other workers, they had tried to assure the soldiers they were not Taliban but the troops opened fire, he claimed.
The raid has reportedly angered the Afghan government because it was carried out without it's approval and the two New Zealand soldiers had been identified as the unit commander "Sean" and his deputy "James".
It had also been reported that the two had since apologised to the factory owners.
Sakhizada said he was told by the soldiers not to talk to journalists about the incident
The guards who died in the attack were Mohammad Sadiq and Abdul Mobin, both married and with young children.
A third guard was still in hospital after being shot in the shoulder and through his waist. Another, who suffered a leg injury, had been discharged.
Green Party criticism
Green Party Foreign Affairs spokesman Keith Locke today criticised the actions of the soldiers and was also critical about the fact that there was too much secrecy over what actually happened.
"We have to give some credence to the many Afghan eye witnesses, who say the troops were not fired on and that the people there were completely innocent," Locke said.
Locke said the New Zealand public should not have had to wait for a British journalist to uncover the incident.
"The Defence Force should have let us know earlier about the SAS involvement in botched raid in Kabul.
"Once again we have been reliant on foreign media to tell us what our SAS is doing in Afghanistan."
Participation in night raids by the SAS had tarnished New Zealand's good name, Locke said.
"It's not legitimate to have a wall of secrecy after the event, particularly when it's a botched raid that raises questions about how the war is being fought."
But Beath said a balance had been struck with the amount of information released to the public.
"There's always a tension between wanting to know the full facts and needing to preserve operational security for future operations. I'm satisfied that the balance has been struck during the entire Afghanistan operation."
ISAF has said proper protocols and rules of engagement were correctly followed and the NZDF said today it would be closely following the progress of the investigations.
It is not known how many New Zealanders were involved in the raid and both the NZDF and Defence Minister Wayne Mapp declined an interview today.
They said they were waiting for the inquiries by Afghan authorities and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to be completed.
In response to the Afghan government's criticism of the operation, NZDF said the operation was a NATO tasking and the issue should be taken up with them.
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