The body of an SAS soldier killed in Afghanistan is due back in New Zealand later this week.
Lance Corporal Leon Smith was killed during an operation in Wardak province last week.
The head of the Defence Force, Lieutenant-General Rhys Jones, says once the body arrives back the Special Air Service will hold a private ceremony in Auckland, probably on Thursday.
Lieutenant-General Jones says the body will then be returned to Lance Corporal Smith's family who will hold a private funeral.
Lance Corporal Smith is the second New Zealand elite solider to die in Afghanistan in two months.
On 19 August, Corporal Doug Grant, 41, was shot trying to rescue people from a British Council building during a Taliban attack in Kabul.
