SAS had golden pass to get away with murder, inquiry told | Global News Avenue

SAS had golden pass to get away with murder, inquiry told
Getty ImagesSAS conducts night raids with Afghan special forces during conflictBritain’s SAS have “a golden pass that allows them to get away with murder”, a former senior British Special Forces officer has told a public inquiry into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.Afghanistan’s investigative agency released the allegation on Wednesday as part of a summary of material from seven closed-door hearings with members of British special forces.The officer, a former chief of operations staff of Britain’s naval special forces Special Boat Service (SBS), was one of several senior officers who raised concerns in 2011 that the SAS appeared to be carrying out executions and covering them up.In an email at the time, the officer wrote that the SAS and murder were “constant companions” and called the regiment’s official account of combat killings “pretty unbelievable.”Asked during the closed-door hearing whether he maintained his view that the SAS’ actions amounted to murder, the officer replied: “That’s true.”Pressed by investigating lawyers in 2011 about his decision not to report his concerns further up the chain of command, he said he regretted not taking action at the time. He agreed there was a “huge failure of leadership” by British special forces.The former SBS chief of operations staff was one of several senior officers from the Royal Navy’s Special Forces Regiment who gave evidence at a closed-door inquiry in 2024.The inquiry is examining UKSF nighttime raids between 2010 and 2013, following years of BBC Panorama reporting on allegations of murder and cover-up by the SAS.Only representatives of the investigative team and the Defense Department were allowed to attend the closed hearing. Members of the public, members of the media and lawyers for the deceased’s family were not allowed to attend.Materials released Wednesday summarize testimony from those hearings. Taken together, the documents – hundreds of pages in total – paint a picture of the SAS’s arrival in Afghanistan in 2009 and its takeover of the hunt for the Taliban from the SBS.Senior SBS officers told the inquiry they were deeply concerned that the SAS, which had just concluded an aggressive, fast-paced campaign in Iraq, was being driven by kill counts – the number of fatalities they could cause in each operation. .Another senior SBS official who gave evidence was asked whether he maintained concerns raised in 2011 about the SAS carrying out extrajudicial killings.”I have always believed that in at least some operations (the SAS) were committing murders,” he said.SAS deployed to Afghanistan in 2009A junior SBS officer who also gave evidence behind closed doors described a conversation in which an SAS member who had recently returned from Afghanistan told him someone had put a pillow over his head before being killed with a pistol.”I guess what shocked me most was not the execution of potential Taliban members, which was of course wrong and illegal, but more so the age and the method, and the details like the pillows,” the junior officer said.According to conversations he relayed, he clarified that some of those killed by the SAS were children. Asked by questioning lawyers whether he meant some of the victims were as young as 16, he replied: “Or 100 per cent younger”.The junior officer told the inquest he feared for his safety if his name was linked to evidence of alleged murders of civilians by the British SAS.The SBS officers were part of a small group that privately raised doubts as early as 2011 about the veracity of reports of SAS operations returning from Afghanistan.In an email, a senior official then based at SBS headquarters in Poole wrote to a senior colleague: “If we don’t believe this, then no one else will either, and when next WikiLeaks happens then we will be dragged down with them.”public mediaThe inquiry was chaired by Lord Chancellor Sir Charles Haddon-CaveThe two senior officers, who were able to explain the language in the regiment’s report, had served with the SBS combat unit in Afghanistan before the arrival of the SAS, when the naval force was forced to take a back seat and pursue counternarcotics operations rather than the Taliban.Not only did they believe the SAS may have committed the murders, but they also described in emails what they believed was a cover-up in Afghanistan. A second official told the inquiry chair: “Basically there seemed to be a ‘shut up and don’t ask questions’ culture there.”At the time, Afghan logisticians were skeptical of the SAS’s accounts of its operations, which they considered untrustworthy. But another senior SBS official wrote that the concerns were not taken seriously and that reprimands were issued “to ensure staff support those on the ground.”He told the inquiry that the SAS could do no wrong in the eyes of special forces commanders in Afghanistan and called the regiment’s lack of accountability “shocking.”Documents released on Wednesday also reveal new details about an explosive meeting in Afghanistan in February 2011, during which Afghan special forces working with the SAS angrily withdrew their support.The meeting follows a growing rift between the SAS and Afghan special forces over what Afghans consider to be unlawful killings by SAS members. One Afghan officer attending the meeting was reportedly so angry that he reached for his pistol.Describing the meeting in a newly released email, an SBS official wrote: “I have never experienced such a hostile meeting before – actual shouting, arm waving and at one point I was staring at the 9mm Gun barrels – all of them are very unpleasant.”Following intervention by senior members of the UKSF, Afghan forces agreed to continue cooperating with the SAS. But that wasn’t the last time they withdrew support in protest.“This is all very disruptive,” SBS officials concluded in an email.Additional reporting by Connor McCannDo you have information about this story you’d like to share?Contact using the following methods Safe deliverya highly anonymous and secure way to report to the BBC using the TOR network.or by using signal messaging appan end-to-end encrypted messaging service designed to protect your data.SecureDrop: http://kt2bqe753wj6dgarak2ryj4d6a5tccrivbvod5ab3uxhug5fi624vsqd.onion/Signal: 0044 7714 956 936Please note that SecureDrop links only work in Tor Browser. Here’s some information about staying safe and anonymous Suggestions on how to use SecureDrop.