Apiata's Afghan exploits revealed

IN THE FRAY: Philip Poupin took this photograph of Corporal Willie Apiata VC in Kabul this week. The French photographer says he saw elite Kiwi soldiers emerge from a building where the bodies of three insurgents were later found.

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New Zealand SAS troops were in the thick of a deadly gunfight in Afghanistan that left three Taliban militants dead, a witness says.

French photographer Philip Poupin says he saw the elite Kiwi soldiers emerge from a building after the Taliban attack where the insurgents' bodies were later found.

After the attack on Afghanistan's Presidential Palace in Kabul on Monday, Poupin took photographs of Victoria Cross winner Corporal Willie Apiata and two other members of the New Zealand Special Air Service.

The publication of the photos yesterday has sparked debate about news media showing members of the SAS on duty.

The fact that one of the soldiers was Corporal Apiata was not disclosed until Prime Minister John Key officially announced it at a press conference yesterday afternoon.

Poupin told The Dominion Post that he saw a "tired and sweaty" Corporal Apiata emerge from the building.

"They were going out of the building where the three insurgents were. They walked towards the Presidential Palace, no car, no Humvee," said Poupin from a hotel room in Kabul. "They were really close to the insurgents ... they were there to fight."

Once the battle subsided, Poupin went inside the building and saw the bodies of three militants. "There were two in one room and one in another. I can't tell you if [the New Zealanders] were directly fighting with the insurgents ... but I could say they were right there."

They were the only Western troops involved in the battle, he said.

Monday night's attack was one of the biggest in Kabul since the war began in 2001. It followed three suicide bombings in the capital.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister John Key described the SAS's role in the battle as "very limited", saying they were "quite a long way back" from the building and fired no shots.

He only confirmed their presence after it was revealed by a New York Times reporter.

Thirteen people died in the battle and at least 70 were injured.

Defence Minister Wayne Mapp said yesterday that the SAS members were not as close to the fighting as Poupin suggested.

"That's the information we have. Both the prime minister and I have acted on the advice we've received."

Corporal Apiata was awarded the Victoria Cross in 2007 for carrying an injured Kiwi soldier out of the firing line during an attack in Afghanistan three years earlier.

Yesterday Mr Key criticised media for publishing a photograph of Corporal Apiata that clearly showed his face, saying it put the soldier at further risk.

He said Corporal Apiata would probably stay in Afghanistan until the end of his deployment. "He is a very brave New Zealand soldier and he wants to be on deployment."

The NZ Defence Force website features several photographs of Corporal Apiata, and has released photographs of him on duty in the past.

Dominion Post editor Bernadette Courtney said the paper published Corporal Apiata's photograph because it was the first picture of New Zealand SAS troops in Kabul after they responded to a Taliban attack.

It was well known that the SAS was in Kabul, and the prime minister had confirmed the soldier in the picture was Corporal Apiata, she said.

"Corporal Willie Apiata is a war hero who requested to return to Afghanistan. He was paraded in front of the public and the media here and around the world when he won his Victoria Cross.

"He has had extensive media training – $35,000 worth of advice paid for by the Defence Force.

"We don't believe media here have placed Corporal Apiata or any of the other SAS members at any greater risk than they already are."

The New Zealand Herald said today the journalist who broke the story of the SAS joining the counterattack against a Taliban strike was surprised at the reaction in New Zealand.

Afghanistan-based New York Times reporter Dexter Filkins, in a blog posted to the newspaper's website yesterday, wrote: "New Zealand? At war? Who knew? Not a lot of New Zealanders, apparently."

"The news ... that a team of commandos from New Zealand had joined Afghan soldiers at the scene caused a sensation in the little country off the coast of Australia," he wrote.

Filkins said he spotted the New Zealand soldiers as they moved in to Pashtunistan Square, the site of the Taliban attack, which killed five people and wounded at least 70.

He said one told him to: "Get out of here".

"I saw the patch on his arm announcing his country. Others were more friendly. 'Can't talk now, mate,' said another with a smile."

The Herald's assistant editor John Roughan said the paper stood by the decision to use the picture which, he said, had real news value.

"The soldiers were in a public street, in a major city, visible to anybody, wearing their uniforms, carrying their guns, photographed as the New Zealand SAS," he said.

- with NZPA

- © Fairfax NZ News

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Cam   #204   11:39 am Jan 22 2010

@ Hamish #179

How badass?

Extremely badass.

Agree completely. Get that man a pie.

Aside from that totally diagree with the publishing of names, photos etc. I'd love to hear about our SAS exploits but perhaps it can wait till they are safe back at home.

j man   #203   11:38 am Jan 22 2010

giving this so much publicity has put this photo into the public eye a hell of a lot more! so aren't the people reporting on the initial story just as bad? especially using the photo in the story about the photo....! come on guys time to start thinking here...

P.S. this photo is freakin awesome!!

Andy W   #202   11:31 am Jan 22 2010

Get off your high horses people. The NZ SAS are in danger in Afghanistan, just the same as soldiers from the US, UK and other NATO countries regardless of whether photos are published identifying them. It hasn't exactly been a well kept secret that our SAS have are in Afghanistan.

J E   #201   11:30 am Jan 22 2010

If I was a soldier there, which I have been, I would be more worried about my family back home. My enemies now know my name and it wouldn't be hard to track down information about my personal life. I don't know who's worse though, media for publishing photos or John Key for identifying Corp Apiata

Nix   #200   11:26 am Jan 22 2010

@Jack #@180 and Monty #174: Apiata's face was there for anyone in Kabul to see and a single photograph, and even the photographer's description of what took place, doesn't reveal anything about SAS tactics.

We already knew the SAS were in Kabul before this latest report and there were already photos of Apiata published from when he was awarded his VC. I'm sure the Taliban gather their own intelligence without needing to check what is being said in NZ's media.

It sounds like some of you would rather be living in 1970s Communist East Germany than a free and open society.

Dave   #199   11:20 am Jan 22 2010

Frivolous media reporting like this does more harm than good with respect to security of missions and work done in Afganistan. I'm just waiting for the foolish reporting of other smaller countries involved to blow out of proportion as well!

As professional soldiers, they are asked to go into battle and to do their job. Drawing media attention to them draws unnecesssary attention in an already stressful environment.

Masks wouldn't help either. They were identified by markings on their fatigues.

I don't need to know that NZ troops or SAS are in the field in harms way. They are big boys, they know what they are doing. My bro in law was in Afganistan for 6 months unbeknownst to me for a couple of months before my sister told me. All I wanted was for him to do his job, stay safe and come home. He's a professional soldier, so goes where he is needed.

We can all blame the Greens for turning the table over on the participation of the SAS in Afganisation and Key having to comment on it all the time. Obviously they don't have the understanding of discretion unless its on their own terms.

Just let the boys do their job and leave them alone.

Steve   #198   11:15 am Jan 22 2010

Publication of the photos was irresponsible, and clearly for sensationalist purposes. The media more and more appoints itself as guardians of the public interest when they are incapable of behaving responsibly, and inherently have 'bottom-line" mentalities. Just read the Dominion to see this: how many news articles, how many ads. The SAS have a convention of silence and secrecy, for good reason. These photos abuse that convention, and are therefore unpatriotic. Cancel my subscription.

pip   #197   11:15 am Jan 22 2010

We risk the lives of our elite SAS...and yet we suppress the names of so called celeb paedophiles...

Melissa A   #196   11:15 am Jan 22 2010

To be perfectly honest, the man in that picture looks absolutely nothing like the Willie Apiata who was awarded the VC.

If it hadn't been confirmed by John Key as being Apiata, I wouldn't have believed it. Perhaps Mr. Key could have confirmed that they were SAS, but declined to give any details as to individual identities??

Dude   #195   11:14 am Jan 22 2010

Great, why do peopel think the muslim countries hate USA? Cause USA assisted Israel in battles VS Palestenians. Then came England who supported USA, the arabs hate England and suicide bomb there. Now that the whole world knows NZ is helping USA, where do you think new suicide bombings are going to start?

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