Army chiefs and the Defence Minister have hit back at claims that ill-prepared soldiers were sent into combat in Afghanistan.

A leaked report has strongly criticised the training given to an army contingent sent to Afghanistan which lost five of its members in combat.

Two wounded soldiers were put at risk by Defence bosses who decided to fly them back to New Zealand with their killed comrade.

Sol Te Whata, 95 today, reckons his uncle's blessing before he left for World War II was one of the things that brought him home safely.

A senior Taliban leader thought to be behind a roadside bombing in which three New Zealand soldiers died has reportedly been killed by coalition forces.

A new fundraising trust has been set up to help families of New Zealand soldiers wounded or killed in Afghanistan.

An armed military man found dead at Linton Camp had recently separated from his partner and mother of his two children.

The family of Private Michael Ross say they are relieved the soldier's body has been found, a week after he fell into a lake near Waiouru.

Private Michael Victor Ross, 29, from Kaitaia, has not been seen since he fell overboard from an inflatable boat while returning from a training exercise in a lake.

Hopes are fading that a soldier missing in a lake near Waiouru will be found alive, Inspector Steve Mastrovich says.

Former heads of the Defence Force have rejected claims made by Nicky Hager in his latest book that a NZ base in Afghanistan is home to a CIA unit, while new Governor General Sir Jerry Mateparae described as "abhorrent", the suggestion that

A review of the operation in which an SAS soldier died on Friday night in Afghanistan will be held to see what can be learned, the Defence Force says.

The SAS trooper killed in Afghanistan is a married father of two, the Herald on Sunday has been told.

One of the world's more highly-sophisticated miniature drone spy planes can often be found in the skies over New Zealand.