There were several significant developments on Hit and Run and the NZDF over the weekend. The headline news is that the NZDF has accused Hager and Stephenson of being wrong on central facts, the authors have responded by restating their certainty. Both statements are up on Spinoff:
NZDF: ‘It is evident there are some major inaccuracies’
The central premise of Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson’s book, Hit and Run, is incorrect, says the Chief of Defence Force, Lieutenant General Tim Keating.
NZDF troops never operated in the two villages identified in the book as having been the scene of combat operations and civilian casualties.
Since the release of the book, the New Zealand Defence Force has spent considerable time reviewing the claims contained in it, despite the allegations of civilian casualties being the subject of a NATO investigation in 2010.
Upon review of Hit and Run, it is evident there are some major inaccuracies — the main one being the location and names of the villages where the authors claim civilians were killed and property was destroyed wilfully during a New Zealand-led operation.
The villages are named in the book as Naik and Khak Khuday Dad, but the NZDF can confirm that NZDF personnel have never operated in these villages.
The authors appear to have confused interviews, stories and anecdotes from locals with an operation conducted more than two kilometres to the south, known as Operation Burnham.
The villages in the Hager and Stephenson book and the settlement which was the site of Operation Burnham, called Tirgiran, are separated by mountainous and difficult terrain.
The NZDF has used the geographical references in the book and cross-referenced them with our own material.
During Operation Burnham, New Zealand was supported by coalition partners, which included air support capacity as previously reported.
The ISAF investigation determined that a gun sight malfunction on a coalition helicopter resulted in several rounds falling short, missing the intended target and instead striking two buildings.
This investigation concluded that this may have resulted in civilian casualties but no evidence of this was established.
Hit and Run does not prove civilian casualties were sustained in the village where Operation Burnham took place.
The NZDF reiterates its position that New Zealand personnel acted appropriately during this operation and were not involved in the deaths of civilians or any untoward destruction of property.
The NZDF welcomes anyone with information relevant to Operation Burnham to come forward and be assured that any allegations of offending by NZDF personnel would be taken seriously and investigated in accordance with our domestic and international legal obligations.
Hit and Run authors: ‘The NZDF response is bizarre’
Hit and Run co-authors Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson stand by the facts in their book. They say the NZDF response to the book issued on Sunday night is bizarre and a continuation of seven years of cover up. It seems, they said, to be nothing more than an attempt to squirt ink in the water.
“We are absolutely confident that an SAS raid took place on 22 August 2010 where six civilians were killed and another 15 injured. We know a dozen houses were destroyed as well. We have testimony about these events from members of the SAS, Afghan commandos and people living in the villages that were raided, Naik and Khak Khuday Dad. The SAS and villagers both talked about assaults on the same named people’s houses. It is actually impossible that the story is wrong.”
The NZDF press release is simply incorrect and implausible. To be true, it would require an identical raid by identical forces, using identical helicopters, on identical targets at the same time.
“We are shocked that the NZDF believes this is a legitimate reply to the serious and tragic revelations in the book. It looks like nothing more than people trying to evade responsibility and reinforces the need for a full and independent inquiry.”
Last time the NZDF questioned Stephenson on the facts it cost them thousands in damages. It doesn’t help the NZDF’s credibility this time round that they have changed their story, and claim to have “lost” a crucial report:
NZDF letter throws fresh spanner in works as PM Bill English considers inquiry into SAS actions
The NZ Defence Force says it does not have a copy of the key report on which it has based its denials the NZSAS killed civilians in a botched raid in Afghanistan.
And just days before the release of the book which made the claims, it also appears to have contradicted its official statement that “allegations of civilian casualties were unfounded”.
A letter from NZDF’s Chief of Star Commodore Ross Smith – responding to an Official Information Act request – has thrown a fresh spanner in the military’s works over the allegations made in the book Hit & Run.
The book claimed six civilians were killed – including two by the NZSAS – and 15 injured during a raid which NZDF claimed killed nine combatants and cost no innocent lives.
Even as NZDF maintained that no innocents were harmed, former defence ministers have shifted from saying there were no civilian casualties to saying New Zealand was not responsible for any deaths.
Smith’s letter to the Human Rights Foundation has now given a new version from NZDF with the statement: “The 2010 raid in Baghlan involved a suspected civilian casualty.”…
So to be clear, the NZDF has been denying civilian casualties that they already admitted a week before Hit and Run threw a spotlight back on the issue. That’s not a good look. Which version of the story is it that Bill English backs 100%?
Sounds like we need an inquiry doesn’t it:
The authors have called for an inquiry into the raids. That suggestion has been backed by three New Zealand human rights lawyers acting for the Afghan villagers, the Labour, Green, Māori, New Zealand First and United Future parties, academics and RSA resident BJ Clark, and a doctor who cared for the injured.
The NZDF say they are open to it – from the statement above:
The NZDF welcomes anyone with information relevant to Operation Burnham to come forward and be assured that any allegations of offending by NZDF personnel would be taken seriously and investigated in accordance with our domestic and international legal obligations.
Credit to them for that – maybe some version of their story will be proved right. So let’s get on with it, shall we?
Further Reading, David Fisher in The Herald today: Our faulty war: the report they fought to keep secret. Not directly related to Hit and Run, but about the broader context of the NZDF in Afghanistan.
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