Alleged war crimes in Afghanistan: 'Senior British military officers hide evidence of killing unarmed Afghans'
Documents presented by the Ministry of Defense in the British High Court revealed that British Special Forces officers feared that their troops had killed some unarmed Afghans who posed no threat to them.
''The documents also show that the allegations were kept secret and not reported to the Royal Military Police''. The British Ministry of Defense has stated that the evidence is not new and has already been investigated.
The trial began in 2019 after an investigation by BBC Panorama and the Sunday Times into allegations of war crimes against British special forces involved in the war in Afghanistan.
The British court is considering whether the allegations were satisfactorily investigated by the armed forces.
The plaintiff in the case, Saifullah, an Afghan citizen, alleges that four members of his family were allegedly killed on February 16, 2011. The court ordered the British defense secretary to provide further documents on the allegations, following a request from Saifullah's lawyers to release more documents related to the case before a judicial review.
According to court documents so far in the case, details of the killing of nine Afghans during a raid on February 7, 2011 have come to light, while two days later, eight Afghans were arrested by British special forces. There is also mention of the alleged murder.
It should be noted that according to these documents, more than twelve prisoners were killed while they were being taken for search. The British military says the prisoners tried to snatch weapons, after which they were forced to take extreme measures.
According to documents, a British lieutenant colonel had expressed uncertainty over the official position of the incident. The officer said it was "incredible" that the detainees had been sent back to a building where they had tried to snatch weapons.
Another officer replied that he was saddened by the fact that the turn had come, a major failure of the leadership.
About a week after the incident, four members of Saifullah's family were allegedly killed by the same Special Forces team in similar circumstances. According to documents, a senior officer described the incident as "shocking".
Another senior official rejected the military's description of the incident, saying that the unimaginable details layered in the official position make it beyond comprehension and astonishing.
The court also found a written statement from a British officer to his commanding officer, according to which a member of the Special Forces told him that all men whose age suggests they were militants were killed. Can fight on behalf of, whether they feel any kind of threat or not.
In the same statement, the officer also wrote that it was pointed out that Afghan prisoners in the compounds were being killed in various ways. In one case, a man was stabbed in the face before being shot with a pistol.
Documents released by the court also show that the allegations were brought to the attention of a very senior officer at the British Special Forces headquarters. The court was told that all reports of war crimes in Afghanistan were locked in a top secret compartment.
According to details, the Special Forces leadership kept the Royal Military Police unaware of the allegations and ordered an internal investigation into 11 incidents in the last six months where similar incidents took place at the hands of the Special Forces. People were killed.
In all, the detainees were taken inside the buildings for a search. The final report of this investigation was written by the commanding officer of the same special forces unit and he justified the position of the soldiers.
In 2014, the Royal Military Police of the British Army launched an investigation into the incidents. The investigation, dubbed Operation North Moore, was closed in 2019. At the time, the Ministry of Defense said the Royal Military Police had not found any evidence of war crimes by the military. But documents found during the court case point out flaws in the investigation.
According to a summary of Operation Northmore, only three of the 11 incidents were investigated and the two senior officers against whom the allegations were made were cleared without being interviewed. It was also revealed that during the investigation it was decided that the camera footage of Special Forces Red would not be examined.
According to the British Ministry of Defense, four members of Saifullah's family were killed by soldiers defending themselves. According to a previous statement, the Ministry of Defense said that all the documents have been reviewed during the investigation, after which insufficient material was found in support of these allegations.
If there is any new evidence or information related to these allegations, they can be reviewed.