Senior Military Figures Accused of Suppressing SAS War Crimes Evidence
A former director of UK special forces and other senior officers deliberately attempted to cover up concerns that SAS units were conducting unlawful killings in Afghanistan, a public inquiry has been told. The allegations represent some of the most serious to emerge at the ongoing independent investigation into claims that British special forces summarily killed 80 people during operations in Afghanistan.
Whistleblower Reveals Chain of Command Failures
A senior special forces whistleblower, identified only as N1466, testified that the military chain of command failed to prevent extrajudicial shootings after he first raised alarms in February 2011. According to newly released redacted transcripts of evidence given secretly last year, the officer stated this failure allowed the killings to continue until at least 2013.
The whistleblower told the inquiry: "We could have stopped it in February 2011. Those people who died unnecessarily from that point onwards, there were two toddlers shot in their bed next to their parents... all that would not necessarily have come to pass if that had been stopped."
This testimony appears to reference the case of Hussain Uzbakzai and his wife Ruqquia Haleem, who were killed during a night-time operation in Shesh Aba village, Nimruz province in 2012. Their children, Imran and Bilal, sustained serious injuries after allegedly being shot while asleep in their beds.
Systematic Cover-Up and Continued Killings
N1466 alleged that the then-director of special forces made a conscious decision to suppress information about the suspected criminality. He claimed the director ordered a superficial review of tactics, techniques and procedures specifically to avoid external scrutiny of the unlawful killings.
"It was blatantly clear from the statistics and the patterns that there was something wrong here," the whistleblower testified. "I believe he knew it wasn't... a problem with the TTP. The root problem was the intent [to kill]."
After temporarily leaving the special forces, N1466 returned in 2014 and discovered the killings had continued. He expressed shock that the pattern of behaviour had persisted until at least 2013 despite his earlier warnings.
The inquiry heard disturbing details of specific incidents:
- Special forces members shooting repeatedly at a mosquito net until movement stopped, only to discover women and children underneath
- The alleged perpetrator receiving an award to legitimise the incident
- A raid where nine Afghans were killed but only three rifles recovered
- Repeated examples of detainees being taken on raids and then executed
N1466 told the inquiry: "We are talking about war crimes... taking detainees back on target and executing them, with the pretence being that they conducted violence against the forces. As detainees, UKSF owed a duty of care to them under the Geneva conventions. To have repeated breaches of the Geneva conventions was clearly not acceptable."
Lasting Impact and Calls for Justice
In a 2023 video statement to the inquiry, Aziz, the uncle of the injured children, pleaded for justice: "Even to this day, they are grieving the incident that happened to us... We are asking for the court to listen to these children and bring justice."
The whistleblower expressed profound regret about the consequences of the alleged cover-up, describing the killings as a "stain" on the reputation of the special forces and the sacrifice of others who served honourably.
"We didn't join UKSF for this sort of behaviour – toddlers to get shot in their beds or random killing," N1466 testified. "It's not special, it's not elite, it's not what we stand for and most of us, I don't believe, would either wish to condone it or to cover it up."
The Ministry of Defence stated: "The government is fully committed to supporting the independent inquiry relating to Afghanistan as it continues its work... It is appropriate that we await the outcome of the inquiry's work before commenting further." The inquiry, led by Lord Justice Haddon-Cave, was launched in 2023 and continues its investigation into these grave allegations.
