New Zealand's Defence Force has defended the involvement of the SAS in a raid in Afghanistan which ended in the death of a member of the elite unit.
Lance Corporal Leon Smith was shot and killed in Wardak province near Kabul on Wednesday. He was part of the SAS team supporting the Afghan Crisis Response Unit (CRU).
[image:3198:half:right]Fighting began as police from the unit and their SAS trainers were setting up a cordon around a compound containing suspected Taliban insurgents before carrying out a search and arrest warrant.
The head of the Defence Force, Lieutenant-General Rhys Jones, said on Thursday the operation resulted in the death of one known insurgent and the arrest of another.
He rejected suggestions the SAS might have got caught up in a dispute between two families.
Freelance journalist Bette Dam, who is in Kabul, told Radio New Zealand one family may have claimed another were Taliban members, when they were not.
But Lieutenant General Jones said on Thursday that is untrue and the operation was planned over several days and that two insurgents were known facilitators of suicide bombings.
He said Lance Corporal Smith was shot and killed after climbing a ladder to observe the cordon the Crisis Response Unit was putting in place around the compound.
"He was seen by one of the persons of interest in the compound and engaged by fire. He returned the fire hitting the person who fired at him. At this point, another insurgent fired at Corporal Smith, causing his fatal injuries."
Lieutenant General Jones said the insurgent shot by Lance Corporal Smith also died and another has been arrested. A young girl wounded in the gun battle is recovering.
The Defence Force said in a statement on Wednesday it was believed the intent of the insurgents was to conduct an operation in the Kabul region.
Lance Corporal Smith is the second SAS soldier killed in Afghanistan, and his death brings the number of New Zealand soldiers who have died in the country to four.
In August, SAS trooper Corporal Doug Grant, 41, was killed during a mission to rescue people from a British Council building during a Taliban attack in Kabul.
The New Zealand Government is facing growing political pressure to bring the SAS home.
Prime Minister John Key is adamant the elite troops will stay in Afghanistan until March 2012, but most political parties want them returned earlier.
