A co-author of the book that sparked the Operation Burnham inquiry, is now backtracking on some of its claims.

Jon Stephenson says he's now spoken to Taliban insurgents who admit being in the area when SAS troops led a raid on two Afghan villages.

In the book Hit and Run, villagers claimed no insurgents were present and six civilians were killed.

Stevenson told Mike Hosking this latest claim also needs testing, along with the villagers' claims there were no insurgents there, and he's hoping the inquiry will find the truth.

"The villagers may have a reason, they may genuinely have not known they were there., they may have been scared to have acknowledged their presence for fear of retaliation, or they may have been Taliban sympathisers."

Stephenson says the Operation Burnham Inquiry is being headed by two of the most eminent legal minds in the country and it's up to them to determine the truth, while it's his job to report the facts.

He says he's not embarrassed by admitting the mistake.

"It's never embarrassing when one does ones job as a journalist and puts information forward to the public that's relevant and allows them to make a determination into what happened."