Key says SAS training role avoids battlefield danger

New Zealand's SAS troops in Afghanistan will not be part of the special international mentoring teams, according to Prime Minister John Key.

The SAS are likely to be training Afghan police officers in counter-terrorism, but Prime Minister John Key says this does not mean he has backtracked on the caveat he put on the troops taking up a dangerous "mentoring" role.

Mr Key yesterday confirmed the SAS were in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, and had replaced Norwegian special forces troops.

The Norwegian troops have been training the Afghan police critical response unit, a squad of officers based on an American-style Swat team.

They have also been conducting operations against insurgents behind suicide attacks in Kabul and arresting drug lords.

The SAS role was revealed when Norwegian defence chief General Sverre Diesen told a newspaper the New Zealand troops would be "taking over".

General Diesen said the Norwegians had worked with the Afghan critical response unit to arrest "several wanted rebel leaders [involved in] planning, recruitment and management of suicide attacks against targets in the Kabul region".

Mr Key would not comment directly on the SAS troops' duties, but said they would not involve "mentoring" Afghans by fighting alongside them, which he ruled out earlier in the year because it was "particularly dangerous".

"What I can tell you is that a specific group of people deployed to train - in theatre - the Afghan Army or police is not part of the mandate we have."

Mr Key said he had rejected calls for the SAS to be part of the operational mentor and liaison teams, dubbed "omelettes", which provide intensive training.

The danger arises from the mentor troops being paired with their less-able Afghan counterparts on missions, rather than being able to rely on their own colleagues.

Official Nato film available on YouTube shows what is understood to be the Norwegian troops training the Afghan unit in counter-terrorism measures such as rescuing hostages in disused building on the outskirts of Kabul.

The Government had tried to keep the location of the SAS troops secret but it was revealed within days of their arrival by General Diesen's interview with Norwegian daily newspaper VG.

Mr Key said the Government's secrecy looked ridiculous, and it would review the long-standing convention of secrecy over the SAS.

The rationale for not revealing the SAS' location is often claimed to be safety, but Mr Key said he did not believe the troops were put in any danger because their location was known.

The Government was not trying to "obfuscate", but was acting at the Defence Force's request.

It is the second time details of an SAS deployment have been reported overseas.

Prime Minister Helen Clark was forced to confirm the SAS was in Afghanistan in 2002 after the White House website revealed their presence.

In the interview with VG, General Diesen said the Norwegian contingent had also conducted several successful operations against the Afghan drug lords, arresting people and destroying large quantities of drugs.

Green MP Keith Locke said he was pleased the Government was considering reviewing its policy of secrecy over the SAS.

He hoped it would take a common sense approach to revealing the basic location, as Australia and Norway did with their special forces.