Operation Burnham

rdf:langString Operation Burnham

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rdf:langString Former Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer and former Solicitor-General Terence Arnold chaired the inquiry into Operation Burnham.

rdf:langString Newly-elected Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Defence Minister Ron Mark announced that they would be holding an inquiry into Operation Burnham following the 2017 New Zealand general election.

rdf:langString Geoffrey Palmer, 2020.jpg

rdf:langString Jacinda Ardern, October 2017 .jpg

rdf:langString Ron Mark, 2018.jpg

rdf:langString Terence Arnold .jpg

rdf:langString the War in Afghanistan

rdf:langString Tirgiran Valley, Afghanistan

rdf:langString Failure to capture Taliban targets

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rdf:langString Afghan Crisis Response Unit

rdf:langString Operation Burnham was a joint military operation undertaken by the New Zealand Special Air Service and elements of the Afghan Crisis Response Unit and International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan's Tirgiran Valley on 21–22 October 2010. Operation Burnham became the subject of the investigative journalists Nicky Hager and 's book Hit & Run: The New Zealand SAS in Afghanistan and the meaning of honour, which alleged that New Zealand forces had committed war crimes against civilians in the Naik and Khak Khudday Dad villages. Though the New Zealand Defence Force initially denied that the operation had occurred in those villages, they subsequently confirmed that NZSAS forces had entered one of the villages mentioned in the book. Media and public interest led to calls for an official inquiry, which was rejected by the-then Prime Minister Bill English. In April 2018, Attorney-General David Parker of the Labour-led coalition government announced that the Government would be holding an inquiry into Operation Burnham and the allegations in Hit & Run. In December 2018, the New Zealand Government confirmed that they would be holding an inquiry but that it would be held behind closed doors. In mid–June 2019, the Afghan villagers withdrew from the Operation Burnham inquiry, with their lawyer Deborah Manning citing that they had become disillusioned with the inquiry process. In September 2019, the former Defence Force chief Sir Jerry Mateparae admitted that the Defence Force's briefings to the-then Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman had been inaccurate but denied that the military had engaged in a cover-up. The Burnham Inquiry's report was released in late July 2020. While acknowledging that five people including a child had been killed during Operation Burnham, the report concluded that the NZ Defence Force had not covered up casualties and had abided by the rules of engagement and international law.