Afghans 'anxious' for result of inquiry into alleged special forces murders

Dr Nooralhaq Nasimi told ITV News families in Afghanistan welcome the inquiry

Afghan families are "anxious" about the outcome of an inquiry into an alleged cover-up of special forces killings in Afghanistan, the director of the UK's Afghanistan and Central Asian Association has said.

Dr Nooralhaq Nasimi told ITV News that the inquiry into allegations of unlawful killings by SAS troops between 2010 and 2013 was a "great step".

"We want to see that the inquiry will have some kind of outcome to see why this was happening, and how we can prevent it in the future and how we can also contact the families who lost their families in Afghanistan," he told ITV News.

"They are very anxious and they want to see the result of the inquiry."

The inquiry is examining whether a special forces unit, known to the probe as UKSF1, had a policy of executing males of “fighting age” who posed no threat in Afghanistan.

Former Defence Secretary Sir Ben Wallace gave evidence in the inquiry on Monday, and has denied he “lacked curiosity” when previously responding to the allegations.

It comes after emails published in The Sunday Times revealed that former Veterans' Minister Johnny Mercer wrote to Wallace in August 2020 expressing serious concerns about the killings of 33 people in 11 night raids in the war-torn nation in 2011.

Mercer previously told the Afghanistan Inquiry he was “angry” with Wallace, as well as the director of special forces and the chief of the general staff.

He claimed they had “not done the job that was incumbent upon them with their rank and privileges in those organisations”.

Hitting back at Mercer’s claims on Monday, the former defence secretary described the claims that he lacked curiosity as “highly inaccurate”, adding: “I was absolutely inquisitive.”

Afghan families have accused UK special forces of conducting a “campaign of murder” against civilians, while senior officers and personnel at the Ministry of Defence “sought to prevent adequate investigation”.

Nasimi told ITV News: "They want to see whether the British armed forces acted unlawfully. If they acted unlawfully, there should be some legal measure against those individuals which caused serious casualties against the civilians in Afghanistan."

"The community are very anxious," he added.

"They welcome this inquiry. They are very happy to see the result of this inquiry to make sure those civilians will have some sort of compensation from the British government."

When questioned at the inquiry, Wallace said: “Not only did I seek to dig deeper, I also even sought to dig internationally whether or not the assurances I’d been given were truthful.

“Secondly, I established this inquiry… so I was absolutely inquisitive. I held the department to account if I felt that they were not producing what we had asked for.

“But I also had to reiterate that we had to act on the evidence before us, and that I also have a duty to the men and women of the armed forces to make sure that their reputation is not dragged through the mud or indeed libelled or besmirched without evidence.”

Wallace was also questioned on a missive sent by director of judicial engagement policy Peter Ryan in 2019, which concluded that allegations of special forces murders were “broadly accurate”.

Mr Glasgow asked: “Is that the sort of submission that one needs to pay attention to, Sir Ben?”

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The former defence secretary replied: “I did pay attention to it – we are sitting in a public inquiry to get to the bottom of it.”

Questioned on whether he was worried that the allegations had been judged to be “broadly accurate”, Wallace said: “I’ve said, I’ve never strayed from my belief that there may be more evidence out there.”

Two Royal Military Police investigations, codenamed Operation Northmoor and Operation Cestro, are also being scrutinised by the inquiry.

No charges were brought under Operation Northmoor – a £10 million investigation which was set up in 2014 to examine allegations of executions by special forces, including those of children.

Operation Cestro saw three soldiers referred to the Service Prosecuting Authority, but none of them were prosecuted.

The inquiry continues.

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