NZ troops fired on in Afghanistan

TROOP LOCATION: New Zealand soldiers have exchanged gunfire in Afghanistan.

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New Zealand peacekeeping soldiers have been involved in a night time gun battle with a group of insurgents in an isolated area of Afghanistan.

Although no one on the New Zealand or Afghan National Police (ANP) side has been killed or hurt, Defence Force Air Vice Marshall Peter Stockwell said they do not know if any of the insurgents had been hit.

New Zealanders were only now leaving the ANP compound in Do Abe to check where the gunfire came from.

"If they get up there I would be surprised if they find anything... there may be trails," he said.

The New Zealanders would not try to track them in the rugged countryside.

"We would need to be very cautious about that approach."

It's the first hostile exchange for the 140-member Army, Navy and Air Force New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT). The secretive Special Air Services (SAS) have been in fights in the country but are not currently deployed there.

The PRT are posted to Kiwi Base in the normally quiet Bamiyan Province.

Vice Marshall Stockwell said a PRT team had gone from Kiwi Base to Do Abe, 50 kilometres away, after two separate incidents of bombing on government offices yesterday and the day before.

Although Bamiyan has been peaceful, he said with national elections in August, tension was growing around the country, including in New Zealand's area.

He would not disclose the size of the PRT patrol, saying it had gone to Do Abe to investigate the attacks.

After dark last night they were camping in the ANP compound when it came under attack with light arm fire and rocket propelled grenades.

He said at this point they do not know who the insurgents were and whether they were Taliban or bandits.

They would probably have been surprised to know the New Zealanders were in the compound.

The New Zealanders returned fire for around 15 minutes and called in air support.

Air Marshall Stockwell said he did not know the nationality or type of the Coalition planes, but they were only engaged in a show of force and did not drop bombs or fire on the insurgents.

The noise alone would have been a show of force.

"It would have let the insurgents know that we have access to a degree of force they may not have expected; a show of force and deterrence."

Air Marshall Stockwell said that as it was only dawn around now, the patrol had been debriefed about the hostilities.

He expected their training would have helped their state of mind but added it "will certainly be an interesting experience for them."

Last year PRT was caught in a roadside bomb explosion but no one was injured.

In 2004 an SAS unit, working with Nato forces, was caught in a fierce gun battle.

In it Corporal Willie Apiata won a Victoria Cross for rescuing another New Zealander under fire.