By Laura Frykberg
The Prime Minister won't rule out that New Zealand's SAS soldiers were shot by friendly fire at a hotel in Afghanistan last week, but says it's unlikely.
John Key has also firmly denied claims the Afghan government has apologised for the incident.
But an academic says our Government might be staying tight-lipped for a different reason.
ABC pictures show an exclusive look at the damage caused to the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul.
But reports two Kiwi SAS soldiers injured while trying to save it were the victim of friendly fire is rejected by our Government.
“It's not the belief of the New Zealand Defence Force that the injured solider was injured as a result of friendly fire. It was possible but that's not the likely source,” says Key.
But a BBC journalist in Kabul says his sources have confirmed it was friendly fire which injured our troops.
The same journalist also says the Afghani interior ministry apologised to the New Zealand soldiers, but Key says it's not true
The leader of the opposition maintains the Government isn't being honest with the public and should bring the SAS home.
“Our position since 2005 was not to put the SAS back into Afghanistan, and that's been a consistent position, it's not related to this particular event,” says Labour leader Phil Goff.
The Defence Force released a statement this afternoon which says;
“What I can categorically state is that the Defence Force has not received any apology from Afghan authorities.
The SAS are meant to be in mentoring roles to the Afghani police, meaning we don't lead the raids.”
But an academic in defence and security says the Government's position is political.
“We don't want anything that will be used in New Zealand that would put pressure on the Government to rethink the length of time the SAS should remain in Afghanistan,” says Jim Veitch, of Massey University’s Center for Defence and Security Studies.
New Zealand's SAS troops were due to withdraw from Aghanistan this year, along with 10,000 US troops, but the date has been extended until April next year.
3 News