Fresh UK Files Suggest Possible Serious Crimes by Special Forces in Afghanistan
The UK Ministry of Defence has said newly discovered documents suggest that British special forces may have committed “serious crimes,” including murder, in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013, in a development that could widen one of the country’s most controversial legal cases in recent years.
The documents were raised at a recent hearing at the London High Court and are now being examined as part of a larger case known as the “Afghanistan Inquiry,” which is looking into allegations of unlawful killings during British special forces operations in Afghanistan, as well as claims of subsequent cover-up.
At the hearing, a senior British military officer, referred to under the pseudonym “Witness IIA126,” objected to restrictions on his and his legal team’s access to some sensitive evidence. He said the limits made it difficult to fully examine an allegation involving the shooting of a person in the head, “while possibly asleep,” an incident he said took place during a “targeted detention operation.”
However, the inquiry panel rejected the request and said the restrictions were intended to protect the identities of witnesses whose evidence was deemed “highly sensitive.”
Jonathan Glasson, counsel to the inquiry, said: “The mere discovery of documents that raise the possibility of serious crimes does not mean that a specific person will necessarily face criminal charges.”
Alongside the allegations against special forces, the failures of the UK’s Royal Military Police to pursue the case have also been cited as a central issue in the “Afghanistan Inquiry.”
Under the court’s decision, the latest legal complaint will continue to be heard, and the court’s written ruling will be issued at a later date. At the same time, the main “Afghanistan Inquiry” is still under way, and the newly discovered documents are expected to affect the next stage of the case.
