‘Possible civilians hit but book is wrong’
For the first time, the Defence Force has acknowledged civilians may have been killed in a raid in Afghanistan in 2010, but it is still insisting a new book is inaccurate and identified the wrong village.
In a media briefing yesterday, the New Zealand Chief of Defence Force Lieutenant-General Tim Keating said civilians, who were at times used by insurgents as human shields, may have been hit by fire from a United States helicopter that accidentally hit a building because of an equipment malfunction.
But he said there were ‘‘blurred lines’’ between non-combatants and combatants.
An assessment of the August 21-22, 2010, raid, known as Operation Burnham, was undertaken by international coalition forces and Afghan authorities the week after the raid and found it was possible there were civilian casualties.
But the New Zealand Defence Force has always claimed the ISAF report concluded civilian casualties were ‘‘unfounded’’.
However, Keating admitted yesterday that was wrong.
In a rebuttal of the book, Hit and Run, Keating said nine insurgents were killed.
The SAS ground forces fired only two bullets, which hit and killed a single insurgent. The others were killed by other forces, including by helicopter fire.
The troops had followed ‘‘exemplary’’ process and had a legal adviser with them, who found no cause for concern.
The troops had even followed the correct practice by announcing their arrival by loud hailer to warn villagers.
‘‘The clear contrast to me between the book and what actually happened during Operation Burnham was in all respects the conduct of the New Zealand ground forces was exemplary.’’
He insisted that the village where Operation Burnham took place was Tirgiran, two kilometres south of the two villages Naik and Khak Khurday Dad that Hit and Run authors Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson had identified as the attack site.
He said the two areas were roughly as far apart as Te Papa Museum and Wellington Hospital - but much further when the mountainous terrain was taken into account.
It was ‘‘highly unlikely’’ a raid would have occurred on those two villages at the same time, Keating said.
He said the Defence Force had taken the necessary time to look at what was alleged in Hit and Run.
And, while it was an attack on the insurgents responsible for the death of Lieutenant Tim O’Donnell in a roadside bomb - who were well placed to strike again - he denied it was a revenge attack.
‘‘Revenge was never a driver. We are a professional force.’’
Speaking after the press conference, Hager said he was still confident the book was right. The Defence Force was trying to weave the idea there was a second operation somewhere else that he and Stephenson had not noticed ‘‘that wasn’t their one’’.
But inside sources Hager had talked to called it Operation Burnham - the same name the military used.
He said the information provided by Keating was ‘‘very much a diversion, not an explanation’’ and the Defence Force was just trying to avoid an inquiry.
‘‘My strong suspicion is that we are all talking about exactly the same villages in exactly the same place and it just sounded like a strong thing to say that our central conclusions were wrong.’’