Former SAS officer claims they had 'golden pass to get away with murder' in Afghanistan
A former special forces officer has told a public inquiry that they had a "golden pass... to get away with murder" in Afghanistan.
The witness is one of the former members of the SAS who are giving evidence about alleged murders in the war-torn nation between 2010 and 2013 in a series of closed hearings, as part of the Afghanistan inquiry.
Another witness - known only as N1799 - said that he learnt of alleged war crimes while training with someone from a different unit, referred to as UKSF1.
He told the probe that the accusations contradicted a talk previously given by commanding officers which stated “UK special forces does not operate outside of the law".
The witness told the inquiry that the conversations with the other officer were "graphic".
He said: "Words that have been used about killing were like ‘flat packing’, ‘flat packing them’", adding that the words are "quite normal in the military world."
Counsel to the inquiry Oliver Glasgow KC asked the witness if he had any concerns for his own personal wellbeing after making allegations against the unit. He replied: “I did then and I still do now.”
When asked if he was concerned with being "branded as a traitor", N1799 answered "yes".
N1799 also told the inquiry that he was aware of rumours of UKSF carrying “dropped weapons” – which were weapons allegedly placed next to targets to give the impression they were armed when they were shot.
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Separately, other former special forces officers have also made accusations about the same special forces unit.
A witness, known as N2107, told the inquiry that they regret not reporting concerns about extrajudicial killings in the country.
Documents show that the officer believed by April 2011 that the unit may have been committing killings without the sanction of any judicial or legal process.
The officer expressed the concerns in emails to friends and colleagues after January 2011, but did not report this to the Royal Military Police.
Another witness, who was involved in managing an Afghan Partner Unit, said Afghan counterparts felt like they were being “treated like dogs” by UKSF1.
Former Defence Secretary Sir Ben Wallace told BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “Let’s not forget our special forces personnel go where no-one else can go, they do things in the highest environment of danger in order to protect this country and its citizens – they are exceptional people.
“But they must also live within the rule of law and make sure we set the right standards and show that we are better than our enemies.
“It’s therefore very important that we get to the bottom of it – a public inquiry is the right place to do that.”
Families in Afghanistan have claimed that UK special forces conducted a “campaign of murder” against civilians, and the Ministry of Defence has been accused of preventing "adequate investigation”.
A number of investigations have looked into the forces' behaviour.
No charges were brought under Operation Northmoor, which was set up in 2014 to examine allegations of executions by special forces, including those of children.
A further investigation, codenamed Operation Cestro, saw three soldiers referred to the Service Prosecuting Authority, but none of them were prosecuted.
The Afghanistan inquiry continues.
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