Soldiers to be evacuated to NZ

Lt Timothy O'Donnell's body will be flown back to New Zealand. Photo / NZDF

The body of Lieutenant Tim O'Donnell and his two injured colleagues have been moved to Bagram airbase and will be evacuated to New Zealand.

Lt O'Donnell, 28, a decorated soldier, was killed when insurgents attacked a routine patrol in the north-eastern corner of Bamyan Province in Afghanistan early yesterday morning.

He was the first New Zealand soldier to die in combat in a decade.

Two of his men - Lance Corporal Matthew Ball, 24, and Private Allister Baker, 23 - were seriously wounded during the ambush.

One soldier suffered burns to 10 per cent of his body, the other has cuts, abrasions and a broken foot.

An interpreter travelling with the group was also injured.

At a media conference in Vanuatu this morning, Prime Minister John Key said the Air Force were considering flying a 757 to Bagram where they were hoping to bring the soldiers directly home.

Mr Key said Chief of the Defence Force Lieutenant-General Jerry Mateparae Defence Minister Wayne Mapp were intending to visit Lt-O'Donnell's family today.

He said he had spoken to the injured soldiers' partners.

"They said they had spoken to them - I think in Bagram Airbase - that they were in good spirits, that they were looking forward very much to coming home and obviously relieved that they had survived the attack, obviously distressed that they had lost their commander

"And obviously their partners were delighted that they were safe, notwithstanding the injuries they had suffered "

Mr Key said the equipment, tactics and procedures used in Bamiyan were still being reviewed

"There is quite a bit conjecture about what the best equipment is," he said.

Lt-General Mateparae told Mr Key yesterday that he remained "adamant and confident" that the equipment they had in Bamiyan was "absolutely appropriate"

The soldiers were serving with the New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team, based at Bamiyan in Bamiyan province.

At about 4am Afghanistan time while travelling on the main highway, the convoy had just passed through the village of Dahan-e Eshposhteh, several hours to the northeast of Bamiyan town where Kiwi Base is located.

The "complex attack" began with the detonation of an improvised explosive device (IED) which is understood to have exploded under one of the vehicles of Lt O'Donnell's convoy.

The IED was "substantial" and subsequent small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire was accurate and came from at least two locations.