There probably were insurgents at an Afghan village raided raided by the SAS in 2010, the author of a book claiming there wasn't has admitted.
Jon Stephenson's Hit & Run, co-authored with Nicky Hager and released in 2017, detailed a raid carried out by New Zealand forces on the village of Naik, which reportedly left civilians dead and Taliban insurgents unscathed. The reason, according to the book, was because there were no insurgents in Naik or the adjacent village of Khak Khuday Dad.
But Stephenson now says he's spoken to two Taliban commanders who claim they were in Naik the night the SAS showed up, backed by Afghan and US forces.
"I can't see any reason for them to lie about it," he told RNZ's Morning Report on Thursday morning following the publication of his latest findings on the Stuff website.
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Qari Miraj told Stephenson he was in Naik when the SAS showed up, but managed to escape without firing a shot.
"If there were only ground forces, I would have gone and fought against them. But when I saw helicopters I decided that any attack would not achieve results and I decided to avoid a fight with them."
Maulawi Naimatullah's story didn't entirely match up with Miraj's, but the gist was the same - he was also present at Naik when the raid began at 12:30am on August 22, 2010.
Villagers had previously told Stephenson there were no insurgents present. Miraj said he and Naimatullah had been at Naik for two days, and everyone knew who they were. But both say there were no insurgents in Khak Khuday Dad.
The Defence Force has always insisted there were insurgents, and several were killed. On this point, Miraj and Naimatullah agree with the villagers - that the only people killed were civilians.
"There was not even one person [killed] who was not a civilian. I was there, and I performed the prayers at the funerals," said Naimatullah.
One of those killed was Naimatullah's father, Miraj said, who was armed with a Kalishnikov rifle - but was fleeing and didn't fire a shot because it would have been "futile".
"His presence with a weapon, along with other insurgents, probably was the reason why he was targeted," Stephenson told RNZ.
Of the 15 wounded, Naimatullah said only three were men - the rest women and children.
The Defence Force's position is that any civilians deaths were an accident, caused by a misfiring helicopter gunship.
Miraj and Naimatullah were both wanted in connection to an attack three weeks earlier which left a New Zealand soldier dead. They "openly acknowledged their involvement", Stephenson wrote.
An inquiry into the raid is ongoing. Stephenson said he'd wait until that was complete before considering an apology over the apparent mistakes in Hit & Run.
Newshub.
