Senior military leaders suppressed reports of possible war crimes by elite soldiers, whistleblowers testified.
Senior United Kingdom special forces leaders covered up potential war crimes in Afghanistan, a former senior officer has told a public inquiry.
Two former directors of Britain’s special forces failed to act on claims that troops unlawfully killed civilians during operations in Afghanistan more than 10 years ago, a former high-ranking officer alleged, according to evidence released on Monday.
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Whistleblower testimony alleged that commanders at the highest levels knew about suspected executions as early as 2011, but chose to bury the claims rather than report them to military police.
Evidence suggests that inaction allowed the killings to continue for at least two more years, raising questions about accountability within one of the world’s best-trained and lethal military units.
The officer, identified only as N1466 to protect his true identity, was one of the most senior men in Britain’s special forces.
He told the inquiry he had handed over what he described as “explosive” evidence pointing to criminal conduct by Special Air Service (SAS) troops operating in the country.
N1466 said he first became concerned after reviewing reports from Afghanistan in early 2011, which showed a worrying pattern.
During one raid, nine Afghans were killed, but only three weapons were recovered. The officer also heard that soldiers were claiming during training that all men of fighting age would be killed during the operation, regardless of the danger they posed.
The whistleblower said he had forwarded his findings to the director of special forces, making it clear there was a strong possibility of criminal conduct.
But instead of alerting investigators, the director ordered an internal review of the strategy, which N1466 dismissed as “a bit of a sham exercise” designed to give the appearance of action while suppressing the truth.
When the second director took over in 2012, the deadly pattern of behavior had not been arrested.
That same year, two young parents were shot dead in their beds during a nighttime raid in Nimruz province. His infant sons, sleeping next to him, were also shot and seriously injured. The incident was not informed to the police.
N1466 said he eventually went to the military police himself in 2015, but deeply regretted not taking action sooner.
“From people who died unnecessarily, to two children being shot next to their parents at their bedside, all of this didn’t necessarily have to have happened” if the charges had been handled properly, he said.
The inquiry is examining whether around 80 Afghan civilians were unlawfully killed by British forces between 2010 and 2013.
It was launched in 2023 after a BBC documentary revealed that an SAS squadron had murdered 54 people under suspicious circumstances over the course of just six months.
Former British veterans minister Johnny Mercer said on BBC Radio 4’s Today program on Monday that the process through which this information is coming out “must be done in a fair way”.
“We won’t get there by selectively releasing excerpts of comments that fit a certain narrative,” Mercer said.
Despite a previous military police investigation, no charges were ever filed. The inquiry is ongoing.
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