SAS men shot in gunfight

Two New Zealand SAS soldiers were wounded in a pre-dawn gunbattle in Afghanistan yesterday as rebels try to disrupt plans for the country's first democratic elections since the United States overthrew the Taleban regime in 2001.

They were in a remote part of central Afghanistan when they were attacked. One was shot and the other suffered shrapnel wounds.

"Make no mistake about it, this was not a friendly on friendly, this was the opposition force," said Joint Forces commander Major General Martyn Dunne.

"You can draw your own inference that anyone that would carry out the incident were clearly members of either the Taleban or al Qaeda connection that are still operating."

One soldier's injuries were minor and he is back with the rest of the New Zealand forces after treatment.

The other soldier has more serious injuries and is being treated at a medical facility in Afghanistan. A decision is expected today on whether he will stay or return home. His condition was last night described as satisfactory.

Major General Dunne said there had been an increase in security incidents in some areas.

The Afghan Government blames this on attempts by the Taleban and al Qaeda to disrupt the registration of voters for elections in September.

Almost 90,000 Afghans are registering each day.

The Defence Force would not name the injured soldiers, or give details about their injuries. Major General Dunne said he could not say anything about where the incident happened, or the operation, because he did not want to compromise the security of the special forces.

"It's their safety. They are a long, long way from the normal conventional forces."

He said they were with other New Zealand SAS soldiers, but not soldiers from other forces.

Prime Minister Helen Clark and Defence Minister Mark Burton were briefed yesterday.

Fifty SAS soldiers have been in Afghanistan since April as part of intensified US-led efforts to hunt down al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Helen Clark said when the SAS were deployed they would be involved in "direct action" missions.