Former official reveals investigation into war crimes committed by British forces in Afghanistan

By Michael Holden

LONDON, Dec 1 (Reuters) – British special forces in Afghanistan appeared to have committed war crimes by executing suspects and nothing was done despite widespread knowledge up the chain of command, a former senior British official said.

Britain’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) ordered the investigation after a BBC TV documentary reported that soldiers from the elite Special Air Service (SAS) killed 54 people in suspicious circumstances during the war in Afghanistan a decade ago.

The investigation is examining a number of night-time attacks carried out between mid-2010 and mid-2013, when British forces took part in a US-led coalition fighting the Taliban and other insurgents.

Concerns from soldiers

British military police have previously conducted several investigations into allegations of misconduct by troops in Afghanistan, including those against the SAS, but the MoD said it had not found enough evidence to warrant any prosecutions.

The purpose of the investigation is to find out whether there is credible information about extrajudicial killings, whether years of concern have been properly investigated by the military police, and whether extrajudicial killings have been covered up.

Its chairman, Senior Judge Charles Haddon-Cave, said it was important that anyone who broke the law was referred to the relevant authorities while a cloud of suspicion was lifted from those who had done nothing wrong.

His inquiry previously heard concerns from British soldiers in Afghanistan about the sub-unit, known as UKSF1, including one that was killing combat-age men during operations regardless of the danger they posed.

In new evidence, given in private but released on Monday, an officer identified as N1466, who was then assistant chief of staff for operations at UK Special Forces headquarters, revealed how he was suspicious of the number of detainees killed in UKSF1 activities in 2011.

Based on an examination of official reports after the raid, he said that the number of enemy killed in action (EKIA) exceeded the number of weapons recovered, and that reports of prisoners repeatedly trying to pick up weapons or using grenades after capture did not appear credible.

‘We are talking about war crimes’

“Let me be clear that we are talking about war crimes … we are talking about taking prisoners back to targets and executing them under the pretense of violence against troops,” N1466 told Oliver Glasgow, lead lawyer for the inquiry.

He said he had raised the issue with the director of the special force, known as 1802, but instead of considering criminal action, he only ordered a review of operational strategy.

The former officer said he regretted not contacting military police himself, although he later reported his concerns in 2015.

“I am deeply saddened by what I strongly suspect is the unlawful killing of innocent people, including children,” he said in his witness statement.

“The case of extrajudicial killing was not limited to a small number of soldiers from a single sub-unit of UKSF1 but was potentially more widespread, and was known to many in the UKSF.”

Other evidence provided to the inquiry by former officers and a Defense Ministry official said there was frustration among soldiers who released days later those arrested during intelligence-led operations because the Afghan justice system could not cope.

It is also heard that there was great competition between the two special forces units UKSFI and UKSF3, to which N1466 belonged.

“I’m also aware that some people out there want to paint me … against me [UKSF] As if I have some kind of ax to grind…I want to fill in now that nothing, nothing is true,” N1466 said at the inquiry.

“… we didn’t join the UKSF for this kind of behaviour, you know, shooting children in their beds or killing them randomly. It’s not special, it’s not elite, it’s not what we stand for and I don’t believe many of us want to condone it or cover it up.”

The inquiry is ongoing.

(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)