Former UK special forces personnel accuse colleagues of war crimes

Former UK peculiar forces unit person accused colleagues of committing warfare crimes successful Iraq and Afghanistan, alleging that they murdered children.

Graphic accounts of regular executions of handcuffed prisoners and the killings of radical successful their slumber were handed to the BBC, which reported that weapons were planted during cover-ups.

The caller allegations of warfare crimes span much than a decade, overmuch longer than the 3 years presently being examined by a British nationalist inquiry.

Members of the SBS, the Royal Navy’s elite peculiar forces regiment, are accused for the archetypal time, on with soldiers from the SAS – who person been successful the spotlight of the inquiry.

Veterans who spoke to the BBC spoke of a “mob mentality” among immoderate erstwhile colleagues who were described arsenic “lawless” and exhibiting “serious psychopathic traits”.

“They handcuffed a young lad and changeable him,” said 1 seasoned of the SAS successful Afghanistan. “He was intelligibly a child, not adjacent adjacent to warring age.”

The authorities has said that anyone with immoderate grounds should interaction the nationalist inquiry.

Mike Martin, a Liberal Democrat MP and subordinate of the Defence Select Committee, said the accounts echoed those of Afghan families.

“This is the latest successful a agelong bid of grounds that we person heard relating to warfare crimes committed by British peculiar forces successful Afghanistan,” helium told the BBC Today programme connected Monday. “When we each joined the service and went overseas to serve, we did it due to the fact that we were exercising ineligible judgement and exercising unit successful a ineligible way. And often erstwhile we did that we enactment ourselves successful danger.”

He added: “To perceive present that the elite soldiers were casting speech those rules deliberately lets america down.”

Panorama besides claimed that David Cameron was repeatedly warned during his tenure arsenic premier curate that British Special Forces were sidesplitting civilians successful Afghanistan.

His spokesperson said it was “right that we await the authoritative findings of the inquiry”. They added that “any proposition that Lord Cameron colluded successful covering up allegations of superior transgression wrongdoing is full nonsense”.

The allegations are based connected interviews conducted by investigators from the BBC’s Panorama programme, from much than 30 veterans who served with oregon alongside UK peculiar unit successful Iraq oregon Afghanistan.

Richard Bennett, the UN-appointed peculiar rapporteur connected the quality rights concern successful Afghanistan, said the allegations highlighted “the request for broad accountability and justness for victims and their families”.

Panorama - Special Forces: I Saw War Crimes is connected BBC iPlayer present and airs connected BBC One astatine 8pm Monday 12 May