Body of soldier and injured comrades flying to NZ

The body of Lt Tim O'Donnell of the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment prepares to leave Bamyan. Photo / Getty Images

The body of a New Zealand soldier killed in Afghanistan and two of his injured comrades will fly back to New Zealand later today, the Defence Force says.

Lieutenant Timothy O'Donnell, 28, of Feilding, died when a convoy carrying 12 soldiers was caught in a bomb explosion and ambush while on patrol in Bamiyan province on Wednesday (NZT).

Lance Corporal Matthew Ball, 24, and Private Allister Baker, 23, were wounded, along with an Afghan interpreter.

LCpl Ball suffered burns and cuts to his limbs, while Pte Baker had a broken foot and burns to his left arm.

All four were in the leading Humvee vehicle of the patrol, destroyed by an improvised explosive device (IED). Those travelling behind in the convoy were attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire.

Commander Joint Forces Air Vice-Marshal Peter Stockwell told Radio New Zealand a Defence Force Boeing 757 was on standby in Dubai, awaiting the arrival of a coalition forces aircraft from Bagram airbase.

The 757 should begin heading back to New Zealand this afternoon with Lt O'Donnell's body and the injured soldiers on board.

Once the plane landed, a post-mortem would be carried out on Lt O'Donnell in Auckland before his body was returned to his family.

The Defence Force was working closely with his family to meet their wishes, AVM Stockwell said.

He was waiting on more detailed reports on the injured soldiers but believed they were "probably pretty lucky given the nature of that explosion".

New Zealand troops were maintaining their security presence in Bamiyan but some resources had been diverted to repatriate the soldiers, and to investigate the blast, AVM Stockwell said.

A team was carrying out a site investigation where the attack took place, but the Defence Force in New Zealand had not had a lot of communication with the investigators due to the remote location.

"It's a painstaking process that they conduct initially and of course they have to be mindful of the security environment they're in given the nature of the situation up in the northeast of Bamiyan."

Prime Minister John Key said an independent court of inquiry into Lt O'Donnell's death would provide advice to the military on tactics, procedures and equipment.

Losing a New Zealand soldier in combat was a serious issue and an inquiry was needed, Mr Key told reporters at the Pacific Island Forum in Vanuatu yesterday.

"We also have a lot of people stationed in Bamiyan and want to make sure they are being afforded all the protection that we would expect them to be," Mr Key said.

The New Zealand Defence Force has 106 personnel serving with the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Bamiyan. The 16th rotation arrived in April and will remain in there for about six months.

Lt O'Donnell was farewelled in a simple but sombre and poignant ceremony in Bamiyan yesterday, where red poppies were worn in his honour.

IEDs have reportedly accounted for around 800 of the roughly 1100 United States combat deaths in Afghanistan and have wreaked havoc with Humvees, such as the one in which Lt O'Donnell died.

Tomorrow evening the All Blacks, Australian rugby team, and 39,000 rugby fans will give silent tribute to former All Black Eric Tindill, who died on Sunday aged 99, and Lt O'Donnell before the kickoff of the Bledisloe and Tri-Nations test in Christchurch.

- NZPA