SAS 'fired on first' in Kabul battle

A bullet hole fractures the window of the Tiger International office in Kabul. Photo / Getty Images.

The Defence Force insists that New Zealand SAS troops in Afghanistan involved in a fatal shootout were fired upon first.

The incident, in which two Afghan security guards were killed, has sparked conflicting claims about who opened fire first, and is being investigated by Afghan authorities and Nato's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which Afghan President Hamid Karzai has criticised for civilian deaths in night raids on suspected Taleban strongholds.

But the Defence Force, which is involved in the investigation, last night denied a report by The Times of London that two Special Air Service soldiers were in charge of what the newspaper said turned into a botched Christmas Eve raid on the Kabul office of a company which supplies armoured cars to the United States military.

It also denied a claim by a third security guard at the Afghan Tiger Group premises, who was wounded in the raid, that "foreigners" opened fire on him and his colleagues.

"We didn't even put bullets in our guns, why would we shoot at them?" Hamid Hamedi told the New York Times from his hospital bed.

That newspaper also quoted Kabul police criminal investigations director Colonel Mohammed Zahir, who arrived at the scene soon after the raid began, as saying the two victims were shot in the head and "it was murder".

Defence Force communications director Commander Phil Bradshaw was unable to confirm last night whether an undisclosed number of SAS troops involved in what he called a joint operation with the Afghan National Security Force used their weapons.

But he insisted the security guards opened fire first as patrol members began cordoning off two vehicles thought to be loaded with explosives for an attack on the US Embassy.

"After receiving advice of a credible threat to attack the US Embassy, ISAF co-ordinated with Afghan security forces to move to an area of interest," Commander Bradshaw said.

He said as they moved in, patrol members identified themselves in Pashto and English. The patrol came under small-arms fire from security guards and was "forced to act in self-defence, killing two of the guards".

"A third armed person was seen running into the building nearby."

He said the patrol used a non-lethal device to disorient any armed occupants of the building before rounding up 15 people, including two who were wounded.

As the soldiers reached the roof, a man who had been among the initial shooters surrendered. A large number of weapons were found in the building, although no explosives.

Commander Bradshaw said a high-ranking Afghan military officer arrived and took command of the scene before personally vouching for the detainees, leading to their release.

He could not comment on whether that indicated faulty intelligence was behind the raid. "But our guys went in, identified themselves and got shot at."

The Times of London quoted Nawid Shah Sakhizada, son of the building's owner, as saying he spoke to two New Zealanders called Sean and James who were leading the raid.

"They asked me if I was the owner of the building and they said they were really sorry," Mr Sakhizada said.

He said he and his bodyguard heard men outside speaking Pashto so assumed they were under attack from Taleban forces targeting their business for working with Western contractors.

They went to a stairwell to try to talk to the raiders but were greeted with heavy fire.

He phoned a friend at the Afghan intelligence service who called the police chief, but neither knew of the raid and he said that when officials arrived, the soldiers fired at them to stop them entering a cordon.

Commander Bradshaw said he was unaware of any other country's forces being involved in the raid but denied that the SAS led it.

"That's not how it works," he said, adding that only the Afghan force had arrest powers.

Green Party MP Keith Locke said the credibility of the Defence Force and that of the ISAF appeared to be at stake, given the many conflicting reports. "It appears this latest raid is a case study in how counter-productive the foreign effort is," he said.

"It isn't winning friends - it's alienating people and incensing the [Afghan] population."

He hoped the incident would deter the Government from extending the 18-month deployment of 71 SAS troops in Afghanistan beyond March.

Defence Minister Wayne Mapp acknowledged that "there does certainly seem to be uncertainties about quite a range of things" about the incident, but wanted to wait for the investigation to be completed before commenting in detail.

He said it was surprising no New Zealanders were injured.