UK Military Reviews Killing Claims By SAS Special Forces In Afghanistan, Boris Johnson Says No One Is Beyond The Law

Illustration of British troops patrolling Afghanistan. (Wikimedia Commons/RLC/Sgt Anthony Boocock)

JAKARTA - The British Ministry of Defense has invited a judge to examine how to deal with allegations that members of the SAS (Special Air Service Regiment) were involved in extrajudicial killings in Afghanistan.

A documentary 'BBC Panorama' this month made serious allegations against British special forces, suggesting that one unit may have mistakenly killed 54 people during a tour of Afghanistan.

The defense chief said the program drew "unjustified conclusions" from allegations it had investigated and resulted in no prosecution.

But the ministry has proposed that a senior judge can see how the claims are handled, a spokesman told the BBC.

Such an investigation would not review the allegations themselves, although the ministry requested new evidence to be forwarded to the military police.

It came after a court letter filed on Tuesday, seen by some British media, claimed military investigators were under "political pressure" not to pursue senior SAS leadership.

The Panorama program, which aired on July 12, claimed a senior SAS figure failed to provide evidence for an investigation into the killings by the military police.

Citing witnesses, written SAS documents, and court documents, the BBC investigation claims that British operations in Afghanistan "repeatedly killed prisoners and unarmed men under suspicious circumstances".

Whistleblowers said they saw unarmed people killed in night raids, to weapons allegedly planted at the scene to justify dubious killings.

The program claims other officers were surprised by the high casualty rate, given that no SAS troops have reported injuries in gunfights with Taliban militants.

It is alleged that SAS squadrons competed with each other to achieve the highest "body count" during their tour of Afghanistan.

The Defense Ministry said an "extensive and independent investigation" into the behavior of British troops did not produce enough evidence to prosecute.

"Insinuating otherwise is irresponsible, untrue, and puts the brave personnel of our Armed Forces at risk both on the ground and reputationally," the ministry said.

Separately, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the government did not accept or comment on the findings, but that no one in the armed forces was above the law.

British troops served in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021. The 20-year campaign by the US-led coalition ended when the Taliban returned to power last year.

An investigation into the behavior of Australian troops found in 2020 that they were involved in 39 unlawful killings in Afghanistan, without any of them being committed in the "heat of fighting".