The BBC reported that SAS operatives in Afghanistan repeatedly killed detainees and unarmed men in suspicious circumstances.
According to the report, newly obtained military reports suggested that one unit may have unlawfully killed 54 people in one six-month tour.
The BBC said that its Panorama analyzed hundreds of pages of SAS operational accounts, including reports covering more than a dozen “kill or capture” raids carried out by
one SAS squadron in Helmand in 2010/11.
The BBC cited the individuals who served with the SAS squadron on that deployment, saying that they witnessed the SAS members kill unarmed people during night raids
and that they saw the operatives using so-called “drop weapons” – AK-47s planted at a scene to justify the killing of an unarmed person.
BBC’s report also said that a senior officer who worked at UK Special Forces headquarters said there was “real concern” over the squadron’s reports.
“Too many people were being killed on night raids and the explanations didn’t make sense,” he said. “Once somebody is detained, they shouldn’t end up dead. For it to
happen over and over again was causing alarm at HQ. It was clear at the time that something was wrong.”
The BBC reported that the internal emails show that officers reacted with disbelief to the reports, describing them as “quite incredible” and referring to the squadron’s “latest
massacre.”
Analysts said that the foreign troops have committed war crimes over the past two decades in Afghanistan.
“All the troops came to Afghanistan over the past 20 years. All of them came for their own interest and training of their forces,” said Aziz Maarij, a former diplomat.
“All people in Afghanistan have been oppressed. They would not accept this oppression and they call for the punishment of troops by their countries,” said Ahmad Munib,” a
political analyst.
Earlier, many reports were published over war crimes committed by foreign troops during the 20 years of military missions in Afghanistan.
