Wayne Mapp

Wellington, March 7 NZPA - Victoria Cross winner Corporal Willie Apiata is still serving in Afghanistan, Defence Minister Wayne Mapp confirmed this morning.

Dr Mapp told TVNZ programme Question and Answer that Cpl Apiata had chosen to be sent back to Afghanistan after his earlier deployment and was still there as part of the current tour which had not rotated home yet.

Cpl Apiata and the Special Air Services (SAS) troops serving in Afghanistan hit the headlines twice this year for their involvement tackling insurgents in Kabul.

The SAS last year returned to Afghanistan as part of an 18-month commitment, training an elite group of Afghan commandos known as the Crisis Response Unit.

The SAS accompanied the unit responding to an incident last month and were involved in a firefight before insurgents blew themselves up.

In January, a photo was published of Cpl Apiata and an unidentified colleague taken moments after a battle but they were not involved in the fighting.

Prime Minister John Key has instigated a policy of greater openess around SAS activity.

Today the Sunday Star-Times reported that Cpl Apiata had resisted being awarded the Victoria Cross in 2007 for courage under fire and for caring for a wounded colleague during an attack in Afghanistan in 2004.

The newspaper said he only agreed to accept it after then SAS commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Jim Blackwell intervened. It quoted sources saying the SAS troops were concerned about the publicity the VC had generated and the ongoing media attention about SAS operations.