A New Zealand special forces soldier was shot dead in Afghanistan while taking part in an operation against insurgents near the capital Kabul, Prime Minister John Key said Wednesday.

"I was informed earlier today that the soldier was shot while the SAS were mentoring the Afghan Crisis Response Unit during an operation in the Wardak province of Afghanistan near Kabul," Key said.

The soldier, who has not been named, is the third New Zealander -- and the second member of the elite Special Air Services (SAS) unit -- to be killed in Afghanistan this year.

Key said the death was a reminder of the "volatile and dangerous conditions" New Zealand soldiers still faced in Afghanistan.

"This soldier has paid the highest price for his service to this country, and we mourn his loss with heavy hearts," he said.

Defence force chief, Lieutenant General Rhys Jones, said the SAS troopers were part of an operation to execute arrest warrants at a compound in Wardak believed to be sheltering would-be suicide bombers.

"Its believed that the intent of the insurgents was to conduct an operation in the Kabul region," he said.

Jones said the New Zealander was shot in the head and evacuated to a coalition hospital but a neurosurgeon was unable to save him.

New Zealand has about 40 SAS troops based in Kabul and a separate task force carrying out reconstruction work in Bamiyan in central Afghanistan.

The SAS troops are scheduled to end their deployment in March next year, while the Bamiyan contingent will remain until 2014.

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