By 3 News online staff
The Government has released the names of the three soldiers killed in improvised explosive device (IED) incident in the north-east of Bamyan Province, in Afghanistan on Sunday.
They are Corporal Luke Tamatea, 31, Lance Corporal Jacinda Baker, 26, and Private Richard Harris, 21.
Despite the deaths New Zealand will not be withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, Prime Minister John Key says.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.
But Mr Key says the latest incident will not force New Zealand to pull out of Afghanistan any earlier than the proposed 2013 withdrawal date.
“Prior to the deaths of Rory Malone and Pralli Durrer we had been looking at that date in 2013, and the options are either earlier or later, and the preference has been for an earlier 2013 exit anyway, so we’re not going to be changing the date as a result of these three tragic deaths ,” he says.
Lance Corporals Durrer and Malone died in an encounter with insurgents, also in Bamyan Province, last week.
All five soldiers were from the Burnham military camp in Canterbury.
The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) says the latest incident occurred at around 9:20am Afghanistan time on Sunday, north west of Do Abe, on the road to Romero, when the last vehicle in a convoy was hit by the IED. The other troops in the patrol then secured the location and waited for additional support.
“We are deeply saddened by this loss, especially given the recent incident on 4 August. On behalf of the entire New Zealand Defence Force, I extend my deepest sympathies to the families, colleagues and friends of the personnel involved,” says Chief of Defence Force Lieutenant General Rhys Jones.
The NZDF says it has informed the next of kin.
“Today’s events underscore the gravity of the situations New Zealand’s soldiers face daily in Afghanistan. The three brave soldiers paid the ultimate price for their selfless work, and my thoughts are with their families and friends as they mourn their loved ones,” says Mr Key.
“It was a very, very large explosion. They would have certainly died instantly"
The deaths have renewed calls from the Labour Party to bring the soldiers home, with Labour Party leader David Shearer saying it is clear we are not going to win the war.
“That is something the Afghan people need to do for themselves,” he says.
“The question really is how do we get out, I think as soon as practicable, without cutting and running and leaving more instability behind us.”
But Mr Shearer says withdrawal of the troops would need to be an “orderly transition”.
“What we don’t want to do is undo all that good work by just cutting and running,” he says.
“But I would have thought that transition now should be sooner rather than later.”
A New Zealand journalist in Kabul, Jon Stephenson, says the soldiers killed could be part of a Taliban plan to oust foreigners from the country.
He says the Taliban have said they are doubling their attempts to expel foreign soldiers whose countries contribute to the coalition in Afghanistan.
"There's some suggestion, speculation at this stage which hasn't been confirmed, that Mullah Omar, the Taliban leader, has recently called on...the public of those countries to pressure the governments to withdraw troops, just like the French public did after the deaths of five French soldiers earlier this year in a province near Kabul."
A former British Commander, Colonel Richard Kemp, says New Zealand shouldn't be surprised if there's more Taliban action to come.
“The Taliban throughout the country are intending to step up the pace of their operations, they know that NATO forces are planning to withdraw in 2014, they want to be seen to give NATO forces and their allies a bloody nose,” says Mr Kemp.
Mr Kemp says special forces may now be needed in the future.
New Zealand has 145 soldiers serving in three bases in Afghanistan.
3 News/RadioLIVE