UK special forces investigated for unlawful Afghan killings: Wallace

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
5 Jul 2023 21:44

An independent commission investigating unlawful killings in Afghanistan is said to include the UK special forces, according to the defense minister of Britain.

British soldiers in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Aug. 25, 2007 (AP)

In a written statement, Ben Wallace, the UK's Defense Minister, on Wednesday stated that an investigation into unlawful killings that occurred in Afghanistan also includes the UK special forces.

In the letter to parliament, Wallace explained that the investigation, which opened in March, was "now reaching the stage of substantive hearings, and I can confirm that the allegations relate to the conduct of UK Special Forces."

The investigation is looking into a number of detention operations between 2010 and 2013, as well as how complaints of misbehavior were probed by military police and if there were attempted cover-ups.

The British inquiry followed legal challenges to the government by families of eight people including three young boys who were allegedly murdered by UK special forces in two separate incidents during night raids in 2011 and 2012.

"We live in hope that those responsible will one day be held to account," a member of the Noorzai family, one of the two families involved, said at the time.

"Over 10 years ago I lost two of my brothers, my young brother-in-law and a childhood friend, all boys with a life ahead of them," he added.

Three different British SAS units operating in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013 may have carried out 80 summary executions, according to attorneys for the grieving families who testified before a public investigation.

On a single six-month tour of duty, one of the elite troops is thought to have "personally killed" 35 Afghans as part of a policy to kill "all fighting-age males" in homes that were invaded, "regardless of the threat they posed."

It is chaired by senior judge Charles Haddon-Cave, who has stated that misbehavior must be "referred to the relevant authorities for investigation," while "those who have done nothing wrong should rightly have the cloud of suspicion lifted from them."

Haddon-Cave stated on Wednesday that he just visited the prosecutor's office at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, without additional details.

Other nations' special forces have also been accused of illegal executions in Afghanistan.

An investigation into Australia's military in 2020 discovered that special forces members "unlawfully killed" 39 Afghan civilians and detainees, uncovering summary killings, murder competitions, and torture at the hands of Australian forces.

The British probe was launched in response to legal challenges filed by the relatives of eight victims, including three young boys, who were allegedly slain by UK special forces during two separate night operations in 2011 and 2012.

A member of the Noorzai family at the time expressed hope that "those responsible will one day be held to account," adding that he lost two brothers, a young brother-in-law, and a childhood friend in the gruesome executions.

War crimes in Afghanistan

The United States and its various Western allies, including the United Kingdom, are behind many war crimes in Afghanistan, which they committed as part of their 20-year-long occupation of the country.

The United States even went out of its way to commit a war crime against Afghan civilians following its incredibly chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, which saw hundreds upon hundreds flocking toward the airport, stampedes, and abandoned allies. There even was a scene that reminded the world of the American withdrawal from Vietnam's Saigon, during which they air-lifted their staff from the embassy's roof.

Despite killing tens of thousands of civilians during their occupation, US soldiers opened fire on the crowd outside the Hamid Karzai International Airport, killing several civilians, including women and children.

The United Kingdom helped Washington do its bidding in Afghanistan, and British troops are just as complicit in all the crimes and the chaotic withdrawal as their American counterparts.