Operation Burnham

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Operation Burnham: a brief, easy-to-understand summary

In August 2010, during the War in Afghanistan, New Zealand Special Air Service (NZSAS) troops and Afghan Crisis Response Unit members, with ISAF support, conducted Operation Burnham in the Tirgiran Valley near Bamyan. The mission, planned after the killing of New Zealand soldier Tim O’Donnell in August 2010, aimed to capture or strike insurgents believed responsible for O’Donnell’s death.

The operation involved NZSAS and Afghan partners boarding two US Chinook helicopters, with a third Black Hawk providing an advance guard. The targets were three insurgents linked to the attack on O’Donnell: Maulawi Naimatullah and Abdullah Kalta from Naik village, and Abdul Ghafar from Khak Khuday Dad village. In the raid, the assailants had reportedly already retreated into the mountains, and the forces moved through Naik and Khak Khuday Dad, destroying several houses and seizing weapons. Afghan civilians were among those affected, with reports of casualties and injuries in the villages.

Controversy and allegations followed. Investigative journalists Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson published Hit & Run (2017), arguing that NZSAS forces killed civilians in Tirgiran and Khak Khuday Dad/Naik and that the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) tried to cover up the civilian deaths. The NZDF at first denied that the operation occurred in those villages, later confirming involvement in at least one. This sparked calls for an official inquiry, which the government initially resisted. Over the next years, investigations and political debates continued, and Afghan villagers withdrew from the inquiry in 2019 amid frustrations with the process.

In 2019–2020, New Zealand’s Burnham Inquiry examined the operation and related claims. The final report, released in July 2020, acknowledged that five people (including a child) were killed during Operation Burnham. It concluded that the NZ Defence Force did not cover up casualties and had largely followed the rules of engagement and international law, though it noted that a child’s death occurred and that at least one NZSAS soldier was injured by falling debris. The inquiry also found that an NZSAS detainee, Qari Miraj, had been assaulted by a soldier while in custody, a finding that the Defence Force later acknowledged.

The inquiry’s findings prompted apologies and calls for better communication between the government and the Defence Force. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said it was important to address major failings in communications, while Amnesty International and others urged ongoing accountability and transparency.

Context and aftermath. New Zealand had been involved in Afghanistan since 2003, with a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Bamyan and NZSAS deployments in counterinsurgency operations in Kabul. The Burnham case contributed to debates about civilian harm, accountability, and how governments tell the public about military actions. By late 2020, the Burnham Inquiry had closed with a finding that there was no deliberate cover-up, though it highlighted serious communication shortcomings and the need for clearer reporting in future operations.