SAS ‘death squad’ accused of killing Afghan detainees

Evidence suggesting SAS troops murdered detainees and unarmed people in cold blood on operations in Afghanistan is to be reviewed by military police.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the Royal Military Police (RMP) have written to BBC’s Panorama requesting any new evidence of crimes committed during the war.

“The RMP has requested this material is provided at the earliest opportunity so it can be reviewed”, the MoD said.

James Heappey, the armed forces minister, said on Tuesday that some of the allegations had been investigated twice and not met the evidential threshold.

However he told the defence select committee that if new evidence came to light then the MoD would “absolutely” investigate it, adding nobody in the organisation, “no matter how special”, was above the law.

Panorama alleged that it had uncovered 54 suspicious killings by an SAS unit on a six-month tour in 2010-11.

General Sir Mark Carleton-Smith, a former SAS commander and head of the army until last month, appeared to have failed to disclose crucial evidence to a murder inquiry, the BBC claimed in a programme broadcast last night.

The decision to broadcast the programme has caused a row with the Ministry of Defence, which accused the corporation of putting the lives of British soldiers at risk with what it said were “irresponsible and incorrect” allegations. It follows a series of accusations against British soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan that turned out either to be false or unsubstantiated after years of repeated investigations.

In SAS Death Squads Exposed: A British War Crime? the BBC claimed to have uncovered evidence of scores of secret killings carried out by the SAS during night-time raids.

The SAS took on responsibility for counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan from 2009, carrying out hundreds of raids on suspected Taliban targets. The aim was to arrest insurgency leaders and those involved in bomb-making. Many raids were carried out at night and they became known among special forces as “kill/capture” missions. Intelligence flaws meant innocent civilians were also caught up in these operations, it was claimed.

Panorama claimed that a “killing spree” began in November 2010 when an SAS squadron of about 60 troops carried out a raid in Gereshk, in Helmand. Haji Ibrahim, a former district governor who had worked alongside the British, ended up dead. A military report said he was “shot and killed . . . when he demonstrated hostile intent by brandishing a hand grenade”. Ibrahim’s family said that his hands were bound and he was then killed.

He is one of 54 people identified by Panorama during its four-year investigation as having been shot dead in suspicious circumstances by the SAS unit, including two boys. Those who served with the SAS claimed troops planted weapons on the bodies of those they had shot to justify the killings.

On January 15, 2011, the SAS squadron killed a man who had surrendered. The official account said he “reached behind a mattress, pulled out a hand grenade, and attempted to throw it”.

During a raid on February 7 the SAS unit killed a detainee who they said had “attempted to engage the patrol with a rifle”. The same justification was given for the fatal shooting of detainees on February 9 and 13.

It is also alleged that senior figures in the special forces concealed evidence of war crimes. Carleton-Smith failed to report the alleged murders and did not disclose the evidence held by special forces to the military police, the BBC claimed. He took over as the director of special forces in February 2012.

Panorama uncovered evidence that he was briefed about alleged killings by the SAS squadron. Carleton-Smith allowed the squadron to redeploy to Afghanistan at the end of 2012 — a tour that was to end in a murder inquiry.

An investigation began after a member of the squadron killed a man in suspicious circumstances during a night raid in Helmand in May 2013. The same man had been on some of the deadliest raids on the SAS unit’s tour in 2010-11. Military investigators concluded that the SAS man should be charged with murder but the case was dropped due to a lack of evidence.

The MoD said the Royal Military Police had written to Panorama requesting any new evidence of crimes allegedly committed by British troops.

The Royal Military Police did not find out about the evidence held by special forces headquarters until 2015.

The MoD said: “[Panorama] jumps to unjustified conclusions from allegations that have been fully investigated. The ministry of course stands open to considering any new evidence. But in the absence of this we strongly object to this subjective reporting.”