KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The former head of Britain's Special Forces says allegations of war crimes involving the Special Air Service (SAS) in Afghanistan were not referred to military police in order to avoid damaging troop morale.
BBC reported on Friday (May 29) that the former security official made these remarks during testimony to the “Independent Inquiry Relating to Afghanistan.â€
The SAS was deployed in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2014. According to the former head of the UK Special Forces, the alleged incidents of war crimes by SAS units occurred between 2010 and 2013.
The former senior officer, who was the second-highest ranking Special Forces official at the time, stated that the allegations were not reported for two main reasons. He explained that, on one hand, there were concerns that a formal investigation could disrupt ongoing operations and negatively affect morale among troops. On the other hand, some of the evidence had been obtained through a rival Special Forces regiment, raising internal sensitivities.
As a result, the UK military police remained unaware for years of concerns within Special Forces regarding alleged extrajudicial killings and falsified reports.
According to his testimony, despite the seriousness of the allegations, the then-head of UK Special Forces in 2011 decided not to refer the matter to the Royal Military Police. Instead, an internal review of operational tactics was conducted.
Classified documents from British military operations in Afghanistan reportedly indicate that in a significant number of cases, individuals who had already been detained and restrained were later killed by Special Forces personnel.
BBC also reported, based on newly reviewed documents, that in some operations the number of people killed exceeded the number of weapons allegedly recovered at the scene. This imbalance suggested that some of those killed may not have posed an immediate threat to soldiers or others.
The report further noted that UK Special Forces were aware of complaints from a well-known international monitoring organization regarding the war in Afghanistan. In addition, Afghan Special Forces had repeatedly raised concerns and were reportedly so alarmed by what they considered the killing of civilians that they refused multiple times to join British Special Forces in joint operations.
A military official identified under the codename “N2252†told the inquiry that if the Royal Military Police had been informed in 2011, operations by the SAS targeting Taliban members and roadside bomb makers would likely have been disrupted. He added that investigations would have taken units away from operational planning and weakened trust within the Special Forces.
The issue of alleged war crimes by British Special Forces in Afghanistan comes amid broader international scrutiny of foreign military conduct during the war, including similar accusations against Australian troops.
Separate allegations presented in earlier legal documents compiled by the law firm Leigh Day and cited in Ministry of Defence disclosures claim that three SAS units were responsible for the summary killing of at least eighty civilians during deployments between 2010 and 2013. Lawyers representing victims' families have accused soldiers of carrying out a pattern of killings during night raids, allegedly targeting fighting-age men “regardless of the threat they posed.â€
The same documentation also alleges that one SAS soldier may have personally killed up to 35 Afghan civilians during a single six-month tour of duty. In several reported incidents, individuals were allegedly killed after weapons were later placed at the scene, while in at least five cases the number of people shot dead exceeded the number of weapons recovered.
These claims, based on court disclosures and legal filings, form part of a broader set of war crimes allegations connected to British military operations in Afghanistan.
The NATO-led military mission in Afghanistan, in which the United Kingdom participated, began in 2001 and continued until 2014. After the withdrawal of NATO forces, some US troops remained until 2021, when the collapse of the former republican government and the return of the Taliban led to a full foreign military exit.
Several countries, including the United Kingdom and Australia, are currently reviewing the conduct of their forces during the Afghanistan war, with investigations into alleged war crimes forming part of these ongoing assessments.
