UK special forces veterans allege colleagues handcuffed and shot child

UK Special Forces veterans have spoken of how “psychopathic” colleagues killed unarmed sleeping civilians while serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, including a young boy who was handcuffed and shot.

The former UKSF members told BBC Panorama about the alleged war crimes amid a major public inquiry into extra-judicial killings in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013.

A veteran told the broadcaster one alleged victim was “clearly a child, not even close to fighting age”.

A spokesman for former prime minister Lord Cameron said allegations raised with him while he was in office were, “to the best of (his) recollection”, about Nato forces and not those of UKSF specifically.

Collusion

The BBC said multiple people who attended meetings between Lord Cameron and then-Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the time had spoken of how “Mr Karzai ‘consistently, repeatedly mentioned this issue’.”

A spokesman for Lord Cameron said “any suggestion that (he) colluded in covering up allegations of serious criminal wrongdoing is total nonsense”.

Detainees were defined as people who had surrendered, been searched by special forces and often handcuffed.

Under international law, troops are forbidden from killing prisoners of war or unarmed civilians.

The alleged crimes span more than a decade, longer than the three-year period currently under investigation by the UK judge-led inquiry.

One SAS veteran claimed the killing of detainees “became routine”.

Soldiers would allegedly “search someone, handcuff them, then shoot them” before cutting off plastic handcuffs and “planting a pistol” by the bodies.

Implicated

For the first time, members of the Special Boat Service (SBS), the Royal Navy’s elite special forces unit, have also been implicated.

One veteran who served with the SBS told the broadcaster troops were “barbaric” and acted with a “mob mentality”.

He said: “I saw the quietest guys switch, show serious psychopathic traits.

“They were lawless. They felt untouchable.”

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) told the public broadcaster that it was “fully committed” to supporting the ongoing inquiry and urged anyone with relevant information to come forward.

The department said it was “not appropriate for the MoD to comment” on allegations explored by the inquiry.

One person who served time with SAS said killing could become an “addictive thing to do” and some colleagues were “intoxicated by that feeling”.

“On some operations, the troop would go into guesthouse-type buildings and kill everyone there,” he said.

“They’d go in and shoot everyone sleeping there, on entry. It’s not justified, killing people in their sleep.”

Testimony revealed that junior members of assault teams were allegedly instructed by senior troops to kill male detainees, with higher-ranking officials saying things like “he’s not coming back to base with us” or “make sure this detainee doesn’t come off target”.

Afghan families have accused UKSF of conducting a “campaign of murder” against civilians, while senior officers and personnel at the Ministry of Defence “sought to prevent adequate investigation”.

No charges were brought under Operation Northmoor, which was set up in 2014 to examine allegations of executions by special forces, including those of children.

A further RMP investigation, codenamed Operation Cestro, saw three soldiers referred to the Service Prosecuting Authority, but none of them were prosecuted.

The inquiry has urged anyone with information relevant to the probe to come forward.