UK special forces leaders covered up Afghan war crimes: Whistleblower

London: Senior UK special forces leaders covered up potential war crimes in Afghanistan, a former high-ranking officer has told a public inquiry probing the claims, according to evidence released on Monday.

The officer alleged two former directors of the special forces and others failed to act on concerns that units carried out unlawful killings while operating in the country more than a decade ago.

The inquiry, which opened in 2023 at London’s Royal Courts of Justice, is investigating the accusations about the special forces’ conduct in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013, including the killing of women and children.

“I was deeply troubled by what I strongly suspected was the unlawful killing of innocent people,” the whistleblowing officer - known only to the inquiry as N1466 - said in witness testimony.

He added he came “to the view that the issue of extrajudicial killings was not confined to a small number of soldiers or a single sub-unit ... but was potentially more widespread”.

Mansour Aziz, the uncle of two Afghan children seriously injured by UK special forces while their parents were allegedly shot dead in their beds, spoke to the inquiry in a short 2023 video, the Guardian reported.

“Even to this day they are grieving the incident that happened to us... We are asking for the court to listen to these children and bring justice,” he said.

The whistleblower said senior officers had impeded his efforts to “do the right thing” and that he “lost confidence” in their willingness to report the allegations to military police investigators.

The inquiry, led by a senior UK judge, is scrutinising two investigations conducted by the royal military police, which is responsible for the policing of army personnel.

It follows legal challenges by the families of some of the dozens of people allegedly murdered by British special forces, in particular during night raids.

Afghan families have accused units of the famous Special Air Service, widely known by its SAS acronym, of conducting a “campaign of murder” against civilians.

The BBC reported in 2022 that one SAS squadron had killed at least 54 people, including detainees and children, in suspicious circumstances during one six-month tour of Afghanistan.

The whistleblower said concerns about possible “war crimes” were first flagged to the director of special forces in early 2011 but not acted on.

No charges have been brought by police in the case raised by Mansour Aziz under Operation Northmoor probe, which was set up in 2014 to examine the accusations.

Three soldiers were referred to the Service Prosecuting Authority, but none was prosecuted.