The mother of a soldier killed in Afghanistan says footage released by the Defence Force of a firefight shows how well our soldiers are trained.

A live grenade was carried on the body of a dead Kiwi soldier from Afghanistan to Christchurch without Defence Force officials knowing.

The Defence Force has issued footage from a chaotic 12-minute battle described as New Zealand's "biggest firefight since Vietnam" after a court of inquiry released its findings on two deadly incidents in Afghanistan that killed five Kiwis.

Details of a Defence Force inquiry into fatal attacks in Afghanistan have been released this afternoon, along with footage of one of the incidents.

The Defence Force will today present the findings of a Court of Inquiry into two incidents which resulted in the deaths of five New Zealand soldiers in Afghanistan last year.

A criminal inquiry has started into a firefight in which two New Zealand soldiers were killed in Afghanistan last year.

Weapons and military equipment worth more than $330,000 have been stolen over four years from the Defence Force.

Last Sunday morning Matt McCarten was on TVNZ as a Q+A panelist.

With his colleague's lifeless body lying nearby and insurgent fire around him, Lance Corporal Leon Smith's back was to the wall. But the New Zealand soldier wasn't leaving without his friend or without completing the mission assigned to him.

A New Zealand Army officer charged with beating a fellow soldier has appeared before a court martial this morning at Linton Army Camp.

Defence bosses were asked to allow soldiers in Afghanistan to ignore the Geneva Convention so medics could use heavy weapons.

The grieving mother of a dead Kiwi soldier asked for the return of his clothes but was told they were burned as the items were considered "bio-toxic".

The Defence Force has issued a handbook to personnel with guidelines on how to use social networking sites.

Twenty armed forces personnel have been killed in the past three years - with a number of deaths linked to training failures and gaps.

Some family members of Corporal Douglas Hughes say they want an open inquest to satisfy their questions over the soldier's death.

The coroner who declined a full inquest into the suicide of a gay soldier is a Mormon church elder who attacked same-sex marriage in a submission to Parliament, saying it was an unnecessary "social experiment".

New Zealand's overseas defence force personnel will be turning to heavy doses of Skype tomorrow for a link with home on Christmas Day.

There was rioting in the streets and parts of Honiara were burning to the ground in protest at the recent elections.

The killing of a senior Taleban warlord, blamed for the deaths of four New Zealand soldiers, has been met with shock and sadness by one grieving mother.

Misplaced loyalty to a superpower 'ally' is not a good enough reason to stay.

Official figures show Afghanistan most hazardous overseas posting for personnel.