Afghanistan Times
Related Articles
AT
Kabul: Following the report regarding UK special forces alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, Amnesty International (AI) called for an immediate investigation.
Commandos in the United Kingdom’s elite Special Air Service (SAS) corps killed at least 54 Afghans in suspicious circumstances during a six-month tour of Helmand province from November 2010 to May 2011, but the military chain of command concealed concerns, according to a new media investigation conducted by BBC.
Retired Royal Navy chief Rear Admiral Christopher John Parry warned of finding British SAS troopers ‘guilty by association’.
Unarmed Afghan men were routinely shot dead “in cold blood” by SAS troops during night-time raids during the long war in Afghanistan, and weapons were planted on them to justify the crimes, the four-year inquiry found.
Senior officers, including General Mark Carleton-Smith, who headed the UK Special Forces at the time, were aware of concerns within the SAS about the operations but failed to report them to military police.
The Ministry of Defense said prior investigations into the conduct of UK forces in Afghanistan found insufficient evidence to bring charges.
No new evidence has been presented, but the service police will consider any allegations should new evidence come to light, the Defence minister quoted.
Several warnings were relayed up the chain of command, but the SAS squadron was allowed to finish its six-month tour – and was deployed for another in 2012.
