Taliban fighters kill six in ambush

KABUL, Afghanistan – Taliban-led insurgents killed two New Zealand soldiers and four Afghan intelligence officers Saturday in an ambush in the central province of Bamiyan, local officials said Sunday.

The intelligence officers, members of Afghanistan’s spy agency, had received a report of explosives stockpiled in the Baghak area of Shibar district and mounted an operation to seize them, said Abdul Rahman Ahmadi, the spokesman for the Bamiyan’s governor. But the Taliban fighters were waiting to ambush the officers, Ahmadi said.

The besieged intelligence officers summoned assistance from New Zealand troops based in Bamiyan. When the New Zealand troops arrived, they were also fired on. Two New Zealanders were killed and six wounded, Ahmadi said.

A spokesman to the U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force confirmed the death of two ISAF soldiers on Saturday.

However, the New Zealand Defense Force confirmed that their two soldiers were killed and another six were wounded, Reuters reported.

“The New Zealand Defense Force was responding to local security force coming under attack and it developed into a serious incident,” said Jonathan Coleman, New Zealand’s defense minister.