SAS trooper held naked Afghan man at knifepoint, inquiry finds

A military inquiry has found a New Zealand soldier held an Afghan man naked at knifepoint, but that the Kiwi forces did not provoke a gunfight in which three other Afghan men died.

The inquiry by Defence Legal Services found that the Special Air Service (SAS) soldier who held the knife in 2004 “fell below the standards of a professional solder” and left the Defence Force last year.

But it said:

● There is no information to suggest the NZSAS deliberately provoked the firefight in which the man was detained.

● There is no information to suggest the NZSAS mistreated dead bodies.

● There is insufficient information to conclude if property was damaged.

The gunfight occurred when the SAS visited the village of Khor in June

2004 on a patrol.

The inquiry found that statements made to NZ media by two Afghan villagers that the troops “kicked, slapped and punched us” and used abusive language were incorrect.

Patrol members had talked “quite amicably” through an interpreter with locals, the Defence Force said, but the patrol was attacked in camp about 2km from the village that night.

Two SAS soldiers had been wounded and evacuated by helicopter. The patrol then conducted a “cordon and search” in another hamlet called Pay Kotel.

“The males were separated from the women and children and were secured with plasticuffs,” it said.

A barefoot man hiding in a bush was given a verbal warning, then a warning shot, but ran off and was shot by canon fire from a Coalition helicopter. The Defence Force said SAS troops bandaged him, but he died 15 to 20 minutes later.

“These events were managed in accordance with New Zealand’s international legal obligations and NZDF best practice,” it said.

However, an SAS soldier told the inquiry in 2017 that he saw one of the restrained males in a state of undress, and this individual was being questioned by an NZSAS trooper (through the interpreter) while the NZSAS trooper held a knife.

When questioned, “this trooper said the detained man was naked at that time as when the man was being restrained, his clothes, which were old and worn, had literally disintegrated as he was being processed”.

The trooper had explained that there was nothing exceptional or untoward about holding the knife. The trooper “denied that he had threatened the detained person’s life”.

The Defence Force said military police recommended the trooper be charged, but the commanding officer determined that, 13 years on, “there was insufficient evidence to form a reasonable belief that the charge might succeed”.

“It is the NZDF’s view that there were aspects of the behaviour of the NZSAS member that fell below the standards of a professional soldier and which, if not precluded by the limitation of time provisions set out in the Armed Forces Discipline Act, would have likely resulted in disciplinary charges being preferred,” the Defence Force said.

“Consequently the NZSAS trooper received administrative action in 2018 which noted in his file his ‘poor judgment’ in respect of his actions in 2004.”

As no charges were laid, the NZDF decided the trooper should not be named. “The NZSAS trooper left the NZDF in 2018.”