A New Zealand SAS soldier died on the way to hospital in Afghanistan last night after being shot in the chest after a group of suicide attackers stormed a British compound in the capital, Kabul.
Prime Minister John Key said early this morning: "I have limited details about the soldier's death, but I am advised that he died during fighting that followed an attack by insurgents in Kabul in the last few hours."
The soldier was one of at least 10 people killed in the Taleban attack on the British Council in the western part of Kabul.
A Taleban spokesman said the action was to mark the anniversary of the country's independence from Britain in 1919.
The Defence Force said this morning that the soldier was responding to the attack with members of the Afghan Crisis Response Unit when he was shot in the chest by an insurgent. He died on the way to the hospital.
The Chief of Defence Force, Lieutenant General Rhys Jones said: "He, with his colleagues, was attempting to free hostages trapped in the council buildings following the attack.
This is the first fatality suffered by the SAS in Afghanistan, but it is sad news nonetheless. The SAS is our elite fighting force, and such is the level of skill, training and courage of the members of the SAS that they are highly regarded.
Our thoughts and our prayers go out to the whanau of the deceased soldier, and to his fellow SAS troops who will be feeling the acute sense of loss. May they find comfort in these words:
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
John 15:12-14
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