UK’s Scandal: Operatives Unlawfully Killed Detainees, Unarmed Men in Afghanistan

By Staff, Agencies

A BBC report unveiled on Monday that “British Special Air Service [SAS] operatives in Afghanistan repeatedly killed detainees and unarmed men.”

The investigative report underlined that “One unit may have unlawfully killed 54 people during a six-month tour in 2010-2011.”

It further suggested that the former head of UK Special Forces General Sir Mark Carleton-Smith, who stepped down last month, was briefed about the killings but failed to pass on the evidence to the Royal Military Police [RMP] after the investigation into the SAS squadron has been launched.

The BBC analysis of SAS operational accounts, which included reports on over a dozen “kill or capture” night raids of one squadron based in Helmand, showed a pattern of similar cases of Afghan men being shot dead. The killings were justified by the deceased reportedly pulling AK-47 rifles or hand grenades from behind curtains or other furniture after having been detained.

Former SAS operatives confirmed to the BBC that they saw unarmed people being killed during the raids. Several witnesses, who served in special forces, also told reporters that SAS units competed with each other for the highest body count.

The report discovered that the total death toll during the squadron's six-month tour was in the triple figures, while no injuries to SAS operatives were reported across all the raids analyzed by the journalists.

According to the investigation, senior officers of special forces knew about the suspicions of unlawful killings but did not report on them to military police. A senior officer who worked at UK Special Forces headquarters told the BBC there was "real concern" over the squadron's reports.

“Too many people were being killed on night raids and the explanations didn't make sense,” he was quoted as saying, noting that “Once somebody is detained, they shouldn't end up dead. For it to happen over and over again was causing alarm at HQ. It was clear at the time that something was wrong.”

However, internal emails showed that most officers reacted with disbelief to the reports. Although a special forces officer was deployed to interview personnel from the squadron and conduct a formal review of their tactics, the squadron was allowed to return to Afghanistan in 2012 for another six-month tour.