Damning new evidence presented to the Afghanistan Inquiry has revealed shocking allegations that the head of Britain's special forces knew about potential war crimes committed by soldiers but actively worked to conceal them.
Whistleblower's Explosive Testimony
One of the most senior special forces officers in the British Army, identified only as N1466, told the independent inquiry that he first raised concerns about unlawful killings in February 2011. The officer, who served as assistant chief of staff for operations at UK Special Forces headquarters between 2010 and 2011, said he became alarmed when the number of Afghan deaths didn't match the weapons recovered during operations.
N1466 described his growing concerns about "so implausible as to be ridiculous" accounts of Afghans dying in custody after allegedly making futile attacks on their captors. His suspicions were confirmed when military police showed him photographs of dead Afghans with headshot wounds, despite official reports claiming they had been caught in crossfire.
The Cover-Up Operation
The whistleblower accused the director of special forces of conducting a "fake exercise" rather than properly investigating the allegations. "I will be clear we are talking about war crimes," N1466 told the inquiry during secret evidence sessions.
He described the director as a "capable, intelligent, astute individual who would have known exactly what was happening." Instead of referring the incidents to police or launching a full investigation, the director allegedly commissioned a limited review into the practice of bringing Afghans with soldiers to search houses after they had been cleared.
N1466 told the inquiry: "If we had got this right, we could have stopped it in February 2011... Me trying to argue the case with the director, who has clearly, in my view, made a conscious decision that he is going to suppress this, cover this up and do a little fake exercise to make it look like he's done something, that's a charade."
Disturbing Evidence of Executions
The inquiry heard multiple examples of questionable killings between 2010 and 2013. In one particularly disturbing incident described to the Royal Military Police in October 2018, UK special forces members sent to clear a compound found people hiding under a mosquito net.
"They did not reveal themselves, so the UKSF1 shot at the net until there was no movement," the document stated. "When the net was uncovered, it was women and children. The incident was covered up, and the individual who did the shooting was allegedly given some form of award to make it look legitimate."
N1466 highlighted photographic evidence that contradicted official narratives, noting that victims described as "moving around the guesthouse" in reports actually appeared to be "in bed" with blankets over them. He also pointed out the suspicious frequency of headshots, stating: "No one can control a long burst of AK47 fire and put a hole in everyone's head... It is not plausible and not true."
Consequences and Plea for Truth
The alleged crimes had serious consequences for military operations in Afghanistan. Afghan partner units began withdrawing their support for UK special forces in protest, initially for short periods in 2011 but becoming more sustained by 2013.
In one dramatic incident, a soldier from an Afghan Partner Unit pulled out a grenade during the return from a joint operation and threatened to detonate it because of what he had witnessed. In another case, an Afghan burst into a room with UK special forces colleagues, pulled a pistol and accused them of "murdering our people."
N1466 made an extraordinary plea to other special forces members to come forward, stating: "It is time to decide what you stand for. We didn't join UKSF for this sort of behaviour... toddlers to get shot in their beds or random killing. It's not special, it's not elite, it's not what we stand for."
He added powerfully: "It's not loyalty to your organisation to stand by and watch it go down a sewer."
The Afghanistan Inquiry has released summaries of closed hearings where special forces members gave evidence about alleged murders committed between 2010 and 2013. The inquiry continues to investigate these serious allegations against Britain's elite military units.
