A New Zealand soldier has been killed in an ambush in Afghanistan, the country's first combat death there. The soldier was part of a routine patrol in Bamyan province. The patrol was attacked with an improvised explosive device (IED) and then came under fire from two separate positions. Two other New Zealand soldiers and a local interpreter were seriously wounded in the attack, but their wounds are not believed to be life threatening. Bamyan, populated largely by minority Hazara Shiites fiercely opposed to the Sunni Pashtun Taliban, has until now been one of the most peaceful provinces in Afghanistan. New Zealand has had a force of around 140 soldiers engaged in reconstruction and security projects deployed in Bamyan since 2003. It also has around 80 special forces soldiers based in Kabul.