WELLINGTON, New Zealand, Aug 4, (Agencies): New Zealand suffered its first combat fatality in Afghanistan when a soldier died in an ambush that left another two New Zealand soldiers and an Afghan interpreter wounded, an official said on Wednesday.
The three wounded in the attack Tuesday in central Bamiyan province sustained serious injuries that were not life threatening, New Zealand Defense Force Chief Lt Gen Jerry Mateparae told reporters in Wellington.
A three-vehicle New Zealand patrol was attacked with an improvised explosive device, rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire, Mateparae said.
The Defense Department said the dead soldier, Lt Tim O’Donnell, 28, of the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment, had been decorated for valor while serving with UN peace keepers in East Timor. He died while serving with the New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team based in Bamiyan. O’Donnell was the first New Zealand serviceman killed in combat since a soldier died in East Timor in 2000. New Zealand first sent troops to Afghanistan in 2003.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, attending a forum of South Pacific leaders in Vanuatu, said the attack would not hasten the withdrawal of New Zealand troops from Afghanistan.
“This is New Zealand’s first combat loss in Afghanistan and reinforces the danger faced daily by our forces as they work tirelessly to restore stability to the province,” Key said in a statement.
Meanwhile, General David Petraeus, commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan on Wednesday issued fresh guidelines to nearly 150,000 foreign troops, emphasising the need to avoid civilian casualties.
Civilian deaths during Western operations are hugely controversial in the nearly nine-year Afghan war. Reducing the number of such incidents is seen as crucial to a US-led counter-insurgency strategy designed to end the conflict.
Petraeus took command of US-led NATO troops in Afghanistan on July 4 with the conflict at its deadliest when US President Barack Obama sacked his predecessor General Stanley McChrystal for insubordination.
“We must continue — indeed redouble — our efforts to reduce the loss of innocent civilian life to an absolute minimum. Every Afghan civilian death diminishes our cause,” Petraeus said.
“If we use excessive force or operate contrary to our counter-insurgency principles, tactical victories may prove to be strategic setbacks,” said the direction, which was published by NATO.
Before using force, commanders must make sure that no civilians are present, according to the new rules, except in cases of self-defence.
Petraeus also emphasised the need to partner at all times with Afghan troops, whose training and development is seen as crucial to Western troops being able to hand over security responsibility and draw down their presence.
Widely credited with turning around the conflict in Iraq, Petraeus is easily the most celebrated general and now bears responsibility for trying to rescue the faltering war in Afghanistan.
NATO in its statement said the guidelines ensured “that some areas that may have led to misperceptions are clarified.”
“The directive firmly places the presence of civilians at the centre of every decision involving the use of force,” NATO said.
The conflict is killing record numbers of NATO soldiers and July became the deadliest month of the war for American forces with 66 US troops killed.
The Afghan war has become increasingly unpopular amid a rising death toll and a lack of confidence in Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
NATO and the United States have close to 150,000 troops in the country, with 30,000 deployed to the southern Taleban heartland in Helmand and Kandahar provinces in a bid to reverse Taleban momentum.
The leak of 92,000 US government documents on the war has provided more ammunition to opponents of the mission, who point to files alleging Pakistan — a US ally — has cultivated links with Islamist insurgents in Afghanistan.
Defence Secretary Robert Gates said in an interview aired Sunday that there were encouraging signs in the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar, with security improving and advances on the economic front.a