The US will not ask New Zealand to send more troops to Afghanistan as part of Barack Obama's final surge, its new ambassador to Wellington says.

Sometimes, out of the blue, I'll ask myself "How did I, a New Zealander as true as they come, end up in the United States Army?"

The trial of Pol Pot's most notorious lieutenant ended this week.

A bomb disposal expert was killed by an artillery shell explosion just weeks after he returned from active service in Afghanistan.

An air force flight sergeant killed in a blast at Waiouru Military Camp today returned from service in Afghanistan just weeks ago, the Air Force chief says.

The Defence Force has released the name of the flight sergeant killed at Waiouru Military Camp in the central North Island today.

In the wilds of war-torn Afghanistan, a US soldier came across a local man accompanied by a smart-looking black dog.