About 50 New Zealand Special Air service personnel redeployed to Afghanistan for up to 180 days this month. The deployment is the third rotation of SAS personnel to Afghanistan as part of New Zealand’s ongoing commitment to the international effort against terrorism. The NZ SAS personnel are being commanded by a New Zealand officer and are specialising in the planning and execution of long-range reconnaissance and direct action missions inside Afghanistan. They are operating with other special forces from countries contributing to coalition forces in Afghanistan.