7 Jul 2013

NZ military police to investigate YouTube footage

9:58 pm on 7 July 2013

New Zealand military police are investigating how unedited footage of a fatal firefight in Afghanistan came to be posted on YouTube.

The footage from a soldier's helmet camera shows part of the battle in which Lance Corporals Rory Malone and Pralli Durrer were killed and six others were wounded.

A 3½ minute edited version had been officially released by the New Zealand Defence Force last month but the latest, 11 minute version has not been officially sanctioned.

A defence force spokesperson says military police will investigate whether any defence force personnel are responsible.

He says no operational security has been compromised by the release and the original version was edited to provide a snapshot of the events and to make it suitable for public viewing.

Military police will investigate how the clip made its way onto YouTube, and whether any defence force personnel are responsible.