NZ Defence Force say firing range was cleared before Afghan children died

The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) says a firing range was cleared the year before seven children died from a device allegedly left behind on a NZDF firing range in Afghanistan.

A Stuff Circuit investigation has revealed 17 civilians were either killed or injured in 2014 in connection with an unexploded ordnance left on New Zealand’s Bamyan firing ranges.

This includes seven children, aged between 5 and 12, who died in an explosion near the Beersheba Range.

But in a statement provided to Stuff prior to the publication of the story, NZDF said the firing range was cleared in 2013.