World Bulletin / News Desk

New Zealand will not hold an inquiry into "discredited" allegations its special forces committed war crimes in Afghanistan, Prime Minister Bill English said Monday.

"Hit and Run", by investigative journalists Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson, also claimed the military and government covered up the raid's failure, falsely saying nine insurgents had died.

Rights groups including Amnesty and Transparency International have called for an independent investigation of the allegations.

But English said Chief of Defence Force Lieutenant General Tim Keating had looked into the book's claims and found no evidence of wrongdoing.

"He's come to the conclusion that (there was) no evidence of misconduct by the troops and no evidence of war crimes. We accept that conclusion," English told reporters.

He insisted Keating's inquiries were independent because the military chief was not personally involved in the raid.

English said he had personally viewed edited video footage of the raid and it showed the troops followed the rules of engagement.

He said the classified footage would not be released and refused to discuss its contents.

"I'm satisfied that we can trust the Defence Force process and trust the chief of defence forces," he added.