More than 30 former members of the UK’s Special Forces have come forward with eyewitness accounts of alleged war crimes committed during operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the execution of civilians, detainees, and even children.
Speaking to the BBC’s Panorama in a report aired Monday, the veterans described how members from the Special Air Service (SAS) and Special Boat Service (SBS) would routinely kill unarmed individuals, often while handcuffed or asleep.
“They handcuffed a young boy and shot him,” one former SAS soldier, who served in Afghanistan, recalled. “He was clearly a child, not even close to fighting age.”
Another veteran said that killing detainees "became routine." He added: “They’d search someone, handcuff them, then shoot them,” and later cut off the handcuffs and "plant a pistol" on the body.
The allegations span more than a decade — far longer than the current three-year period under investigation by a public inquiry.
For the first time, the Royal Navy’s SBS is also accused of executing unarmed and wounded people.
The true tally of child deaths from British military activity could be as high as 135 because in some cases, the people killed were listed as “son” or “daughter” with no age given, says the London-based group Action on Armed Violence.
There were lots of psychotic murderers'
A former SBS soldier described the actions of some troops as "barbaric". “I saw the quietest guys switch, show serious psychopathic traits. They were lawless. They felt untouchable.”
The soldiers claim that civilians and suspects were often killed even when there was no threat.
“If a target had popped up on the list two or three times before, then we’d go in with the intention of killing them,” one SAS veteran said. “Often the squadron would just go and kill all the men they found there.”
Another SAS witness said the killing “could become an addictive thing to do” and called some comrades “psychotic murderers.”
“They’d go in and shoot everyone sleeping there, on entry. It’s not justified, killing people in their sleep.”
Eyewitnesses also say soldiers used “drop weapons” to fake scenes and cover up unlawful killings.
“There was a fake grenade they'd take with them onto target,” one said. Others described carrying AK-47s to plant by bodies.
Post-operation reports were often falsified with help from senior officers.
“We understood how to write up serious incident reviews so they wouldn't trigger a referral to the military police,” one veteran said.
Another referred to the reports as being “fiction.”
Former UK Foreign Office employee Raphael Marshall said thousands of pleas for help via email were unread during Kabul evacuation.
Killing unarmed civilians
One former SAS operator described learning of an operation in Iraq where a man was executed despite posing no threat or being armed.
The operator called the killing “disgraceful” and criticised the lack of professionalism in the operation.
“It was pretty clear from what I could glean that he posed no threat, he wasn't armed. It's disgraceful. There's no professionalism in that,” he said, adding that the killing was never properly investigated.
According to the veteran, the problem started long before the regiment moved to Afghanistan, and senior commanders were well aware of it.
BBC Panorama also reports that former Prime Minister David Cameron was repeatedly warned about the killings by then-Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
“He was so consistent with his complaints about night raids, civilian casualties and detentions,” said former US NATO ambassador Gen Douglas Lute.
“There was no senior Western diplomat or military leader who would have missed the fact that this was a major irritant for him.”
A spokesperson for Cameron said the concerns raised were about NATO forces in general, not specific UK operations, and denied any cover-up.
UK’s Ministry of Defence said it supports the public inquiry and encourages all veterans with information to come forward, but would not comment on allegations within the inquiry’s scope.
Former military prosecutor Bruce Houlder KC said the inquiry must look at how high up the knowledge of the killings went: “You need to know how far the rot went up.”
