Afghanistan: SAS Linked to Executions, Weapon Planting

 By Staff, Agencies

The former director of UK special forces, along with other senior military officials, attempted to suppress warnings that SAS units in Afghanistan were carrying out unlawful killings, an inquiry has heard, as reported by The Guardian.

A senior special forces whistleblower said the chain of command neglected to halt extrajudicial shootings, including the killing of two young children, after concerns were first raised in early 2011, allowing such incidents to continue until 2013.

The cover-up allegations are among the most serious raised at the inquiry into claims that British SAS units summarily killed 80 people in Afghanistan, with the investigation led by Lord Justice Haddon-Cave after being launched in 2023.

The whistleblower, identified only as N1466, stated that he first raised concerns about potential “war crimes” with the director of special forces and other officials in February 2011.

Redacted transcripts revealed the officer saying the deaths of civilians, including two toddlers, could have been prevented if action had been taken in February 2011.

The officer’s claim appears linked to the severe injuries of Imran and Bilal, the children of Hussain Uzbakzai and Ruqquia Haleem, who were reportedly shot while sleeping during a 2012 nighttime raid in Shesh Aba, Nimruz province, in which both parents were also killed.

N1466 alleged that the director and others tried to conceal the criminal acts, deliberately suppressing information, staging a misleading exercise, and creating the illusion of action without addressing the wrongdoing.

He told the inquiry the director reviewed tactics to deflect scrutiny, noting the real issue was intent to kill, not procedural flaws.

After returning to the special forces in 2014, N1466 found the killings had continued into 2013. When he reported his concerns to military police in 2015, he said he felt part of an organization that let rogue elements operate outside the law.

N1466 described a raid where women and children were killed and the incident covered up, expressed remorse for not reporting unlawful killings in 2011, and said many sought to suppress the issue, including a lawyer who failed to advise proper reporting.

While reviewing SAS raids, N1466 noted a spike in killings with few weapons recovered and repeated executions of detainees, stating, “We are talking about war crimes … repeated breaches of the Geneva conventions was clearly not acceptable."

N1466 suspected weapons were planted on victims and noted close-range killings, including children, calling it a "stain" on the SAS and stating, “We didn’t join UKSF for this sort of behavior – toddlers to get shot in their beds or random killing."