Senior UK special forces officers allegedly had suspicions of a 'deliberate policy' of murder by the SAS in Afghanistan but hid evidence, an inquiry has heard. A lawyer for families of those killed said that in some cases officers did nothing and in others 'sought to prevent adequate investigation'.
Internal emails show 'incredulity' at official reports of SAS night raids in which Afghans were killed, the inquiry was told. Concerns of SAS wrongdoing were widely known at the top of government, including at the Ministry of Defence and No 10.
The independent inquiry, launched after a BBC Panorama investigation, heard that a senior lawyer told the second in command of UK special forces that the way reports of incidents were being written up would 'not bear scrutiny in years to come'. Documents from inside special forces and military police investigations contained 'extensive contemporaneous evidence of apparent attempts to cover up that wrongdoing', according to Richard Hermer KC, representing seven families.
The inquiry also heard that successive directors of special forces, Lieutenant General Jonathan 'Jacko' Page and General Sir Mark Carleton-Smith, had knowledge of serious suspected wrongdoing by the SAS but failed to ensure this was passed to the Royal Military Police. In 2016, an email discussing an investigation reached Simon Case, then director general of the prime minister's office, as well as the cabinet secretary and attorney general.
