New Zealand special forces soldier killed in Afghanistan

Sep 28, 2011, 1:51 GMT

Wellington - A New Zealand special forces soldier has died following a gun battle with insurgents in Afghanistan, Prime Minister John Key said Wednesday.

Key told a press conference the soldier was shot in the head as 15 members of the New Zealand Special Air Service (SAS) unit based in Kabul reacted to information that an attack on the Afghan capital was being prepared in the nearby province of Wardak.

The soldier, whose name was not immediately released, was shot early Wednesday New Zealand time and died on the operating table, the chief of the Defence Force, Lieutenant General Rhys Jones, said.

He was the second member of the elite SAS troop, which has been in Afghanistan since December 2001, to be killed in action in six weeks.

'I deeply regret the loss of our soldiers but I don't regret the commitment we've made to Afghanistan,' Key said.

Key has said the SAS troops, who are tasked with mentoring the local Afghan Crisis Response Unit, would continue to be deployed until March. He said they were playing a vital role in combating global terrorism.

A separate unit of about 150 New Zealand infantry troops, working as a provincial reconstruction team in Bamiyan province, is scheduled to remain until 2014.