Ex-UK Special Forces break silence on 'war crimes' by colleagues

Former members of UK Special Forces person breached years of soundlessness to springiness BBC Panorama eyewitness accounts of alleged warfare crimes committed by colleagues successful Iraq and Afghanistan.

Giving their accounts publically for the archetypal time, the veterans described seeing members of the SAS execution unarmed radical successful their slumber and execute handcuffed detainees, including children.

"They handcuffed a young lad and changeable him," recalled 1 seasoned who served with the SAS successful Afghanistan. "He was intelligibly a child, not adjacent adjacent to warring age."

Killing of detainees "became routine", the seasoned said. "They'd hunt someone, handcuff them, past sprout them", earlier cutting disconnected the integrative handcuffs utilized to restrain radical and "planting a pistol" by the body, helium said.

The caller grounds includes allegations of warfare crimes stretching implicit much than a decade, acold longer than the 3 years presently being examined by a judge-led nationalist enquiry successful the UK.

The SBS, the Royal Navy's elite peculiar forces regiment, is besides implicated for the archetypal clip successful the astir superior allegations - executions of unarmed and wounded people.

A seasoned who served with the SBS said immoderate troops had a "mob mentality", describing their behaviour connected operations arsenic "barbaric".

"I saw the quietest guys switch, amusement superior psychopathic traits," helium said. "They were lawless. They felt untouchable."

Special Forces were deployed to Afghanistan to support British troops from Taliban fighters and bombmakers. The struggle was a deadly 1 for members of the UK's equipped forces – 457 mislaid their lives and thousands much were wounded.

Asked by the BBC astir the caller eyewitness testimony, the Ministry of Defence said that it was "fully committed" to supporting the ongoing nationalist enquiry into the alleged warfare crimes and that it urged each veterans with applicable accusation to travel forward. It said that it was "not due for the MoD to remark connected allegations" which whitethorn beryllium successful the inquiry's scope.

The eyewitness grounds offers the astir elaborate nationalist relationship of the killings to day from erstwhile members of UK Special Forces (UKSF), the umbrella radical which contains the SAS, SBS and respective supporting regiments.

The testimony, from much than 30 radical who served with oregon alongside UK Special Forces, builds connected years of reporting by BBC Panorama into allegations of extrajudicial killings by the SAS.

Panorama tin besides uncover for the archetypal clip that past Prime Minister David Cameron was repeatedly warned during his tenure that UK Special Forces were sidesplitting civilians successful Afghanistan.

Speaking connected information of anonymity due to the fact that of a de facto codification of soundlessness astir peculiar forces operations, the eyewitnesses told the BBC that the laws of warfare were being regularly and intentionally breached by the country's astir elite regiments during operations successful some Iraq and Afghanistan.

Those laws authorities that connected specified operations radical tin beryllium deliberately killed lone erstwhile they airs a nonstop menace to the lives of British troops oregon others. But members of the SAS and SBS were making their ain rules, the eyewitnesses said.

"If a people had popped up connected the database 2 oregon 3 times before, past we'd spell successful with the volition of sidesplitting them, determination was nary effort to seizure them," said 1 seasoned who served with the SAS, referring to radical who had been antecedently captured, questioned and past released.

"Sometimes we'd cheque we'd identified the target, corroborate their ID, past sprout them," helium said. "Often the squadron would conscionable spell and termination each the men they recovered there."

One witnesser who served with the SAS said that sidesplitting could go "an addictive happening to do" and that immoderate members of the elite regiment were "intoxicated by that feeling" successful Afghanistan. There were "lots of psychotic murderers", helium said.

"On immoderate operations, the unit would spell into guesthouse-type buildings and termination everyone there," helium said. "They'd spell successful and sprout everyone sleeping there, connected entry. It's not justified, sidesplitting radical successful their sleep."

A seasoned who served with the SBS told the BBC that aft bringing an country nether control, respective soldiers would expanse done the country shooting anyone connected the ground, checking the bodies and sidesplitting anyone near alive. "It was expected, not hidden. Everyone knew," helium said.

Intentionally sidesplitting wounded radical who bash not airs a menace would beryllium a wide breach of planetary law. But the SBS seasoned told Panorama that wounded radical were routinely killed. He described 1 cognition during which a medic was treating idiosyncratic who had been changeable but was inactive breathing. "Then 1 of our blokes came up to him. There was a bang. He'd been changeable successful the caput astatine point-blank range," helium said.

The killings were "completely unnecessary," helium added. "These are not mercy killings. It's murder."

More inferior members of battle teams were told by much elder SAS operators to termination antheral detainees, according to the testimony, utilizing instructions specified arsenic "he's not coming backmost to basal with us" oregon "this detainee, you marque definite helium doesn't travel disconnected target".

Detainees were radical who had surrendered, been searched by peculiar forces, and were typically handcuffed. British and planetary instrumentality forbid troops from deliberately sidesplitting unarmed civilians oregon prisoners of war.

A erstwhile SAS relation besides described learning of an cognition successful Iraq during which idiosyncratic was executed.

"It was beauteous wide from what I could glean that helium posed nary threat, helium wasn't armed. It's disgraceful. There's nary professionalism successful that," the erstwhile relation said. The sidesplitting was ne'er decently investigated, helium added. According to the SAS veteran, the occupation started agelong earlier the regiment moved crossed to Afghanistan and "senior commanders were alert of that".

The testimony, arsenic good arsenic caller video grounds obtained by the BBC from SAS operations successful Iraq successful 2006, besides supports erstwhile reporting by Panorama that SAS squadrons kept number of their kills to vie with 1 another.

Sources told the BBC that immoderate members of the SAS kept their ain idiosyncratic counts, and that 1 relation personally killed dozens of radical connected 1 six-month circuit of Afghanistan.

"It seemed similar helium was trying to get a termination connected each operation, each nighttime idiosyncratic got killed," a erstwhile workfellow said. The relation was "notorious successful the squadron, helium genuinely seemed similar a psychopath," the erstwhile workfellow added.

In 1 incidental that sources accidental became infamous wrong the SAS, the relation allegedly slit the pharynx of an injured Afghan antheral aft telling an serviceman not to sprout the antheral again. It was "because helium wanted to spell and decorativeness the wounded feline disconnected with his knife," different erstwhile workfellow said. "He wanted to, you know, humor his knife."

Knowledge of the alleged crimes was not confined to tiny teams oregon idiosyncratic squadrons, according to the testimony. Within the UK Special Forces bid structure, "everyone knew" what was happening, said 1 veteran.

"I'm not taking distant from idiosyncratic responsibility, but everyone knew," helium said. "There was implicit support for what was happening."

To debar scrutiny of the killings, eyewitnesses said, members of the SAS and SBS would works alleged "drop weapons" connected the bodies of the dead, to marque it look arsenic though they had been equipped successful the photographs routinely taken by peculiar forces teams astatine the scene.

"There was a fake grenade they'd instrumentality with them onto target, it couldn't detonate," said a erstwhile SAS operator. Another seasoned said operators would transportation AK-47 rifles which had a folding banal due to the fact that they were easier to acceptable into their rucksacks and "easier to bring onto a people and works by a body".

Officers would past assistance to falsify post-operational reports successful bid to debar scrutiny for the actions of battle teams connected the ground, according to the testimony.

"We understood however to constitute up superior incidental reviews truthful they wouldn't trigger a referral to the subject police," 1 of the veterans said.

"If it looked similar a shooting could correspond a breach of the rules of conflict, you'd get a telephone telephone from the ineligible advisor oregon 1 of the unit officers successful HQ. They'd prime you up connected it and assistance you to clarify the language. 'Do you retrieve idiosyncratic making a abrupt move?' 'Oh yeah, I bash now.' That benignant of thing. It was built into the mode we operated."

The reports were "a fiction", different UKSF seasoned said.

An quality serviceman who worked with the SBS described reports which said they had been caught successful a firefight, portion the photos showed bodies with "multiple cleanable headshots".

Falsified paperwork could assistance forestall an probe by the Royal Military Police, but British peculiar forces operations generated heavy interest from Afghan commanders and Afghan authorities officials.

David Cameron - who made 7 visits to Afghanistan arsenic premier curate betwixt June 2010 and November 2013, the play present nether scrutiny by the SAS nationalist inquiry, was repeatedly made alert of the concerns by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, according to aggregate radical who attended the meetings.

Mr Karzai "consistently, repeatedly mentioned this issue", erstwhile Afghan nationalist information advisor Dr Rangin Dadfar Spanta told Panorama. He said Lord Cameron could person been near successful nary uncertainty that determination were allegations of civilians, including children, being killed during operations carried retired by UK Special Forces.

The Afghan president was "so accordant with his complaints astir nighttime raids, civilian casualties and detentions that determination was nary elder Western diplomat oregon subject person who would person missed the information that this was a large irritant for him," said Gen Douglas Lute, a erstwhile US ambassador to Nato.

Gen Lute said it would person been "extraordinarily antithetic if determination were a assertion against British forces that the British concatenation of bid was not alert of".

A spokesperson for Lord Cameron told Panorama that "to the champion of Lord Cameron's recollection" the issues raised by President Karzai were astir Nato forces successful wide and that "specific incidents with respect to UK Special Forces were not raised".

The spokesperson besides said that it was "right that we await the authoritative findings of the Inquiry", adding that "any proposition that Lord Cameron colluded successful covering up allegations of superior transgression wrongdoing is full nonsense."

Unlike galore different countries, including the US and France, the UK has nary parliamentary oversight of its elite peculiar forces regiments. Strategic work for their actions falls yet to the premier minister, on with the defence caput and caput of peculiar forces.

Bruce Houlder KC - a erstwhile manager of work prosecutions, liable for bringing charges and prosecuting those serving successful the Armed Forces - told Panorama that helium hoped the nationalist enquiry would analyse the grade of Lord Cameron's cognition of alleged civilian casualties connected British peculiar forces operations.

"You request to cognize however acold the rot went up," Mr Houlder said.