By Michael Holden
LONDON (Reuters) – Soldiers who were part of British special forces working in Afghanistan have told a public inquiry of their concerns that Afghans who posed no threat had been murdered in raids against suspected Taliban insurgents, including some aged under 16.
The independent inquiry was ordered by Britain’s defence ministry (MoD) after a BBC TV documentary reported that soldiers from the elite Special Air Service (SAS) had killed 54 people in suspicious circumstances during the war in Afghanistan more than a decade ago.
The investigation is examining a number of night-time raids called deliberate detention operations carried out by British forces from mid-2010 to mid-2013. On Wednesday it released a precis of evidence from seven UK special forces (UKSF) witnesses who gave their testimony in secret for national security reasons and cannot be named.
One of the soldiers, known only as N1799, told the inquiry he had raised concerns in 2011 about a unit referred to as UKSF1 after having a conversation about its operations with one of its members on a training course.
“During these operations it was said that ‘all fighting age males are killed’ on target regardless of the threat they posed, this included those not holding weapons,” his witness statement said.
“It was also indicated that ‘fighting age males’ were being executed on target, inside compounds, using a variety of methods after they had been restrained. In one case it was mentioned a pillow was put over the head of an individual before being killed with a pistol.”
Questioned by the inquiry’s lawyer, he said he understood this related to those under 18 and younger than 16.
N1799 escalated his concerns to other senior officers who took them seriously. Other officers told the inquiry they had heard rumours and had their own concerns about UKSF1 operations where high numbers of deaths and the official reports of the killings suggested some were unlikely to be justified.
One officer, referred to as N2107, had emailed colleagues expressing his disbelief at summaries of UKSF1 operations which suggested detained suspects had been allowed back into compounds where they were then said to have picked up weapons and attempted to attack the unit.
‘MURDER’
“Whilst murder and [UKSF1] have oft been regular bedfellows, this is beginning to look bone,” he said in one email, telling the inquiry this meant it looked “very stupid”.
Giving evidence, he agreed with Oliver Glasgow, the lead lawyer for the inquiry, that by April 2011 he believed UKSF1 might have been committing extra-judicial killings.
None of the soldiers who gave evidence to the inquiry, which opened in 2023, said they had witnessed any such behaviour themselves.
British military police have previously conducted several inquiries into allegations of misconduct by forces in Afghanistan, including those made against the SAS, but the MoD has said none found enough evidence for prosecutions.
The inquiry’s aim is to ascertain whether there was credible information of extra-judicial killings, whether investigations by the military police years later into N1799’s concerns were properly conducted, and if unlawful killings were covered up.
N1799 said he still felt disloyal in speaking out and requested that two defence ministry figures were removed from the inquiry room before he gave his evidence, fearing for his own safety.
“I believe I did the right thing and I continue to but it’s not easy,” he told the inquiry. “It does make me feel a bit sick.”
(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Ros Russell)
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