On Wednesday, July 6, at the beginning of a two-day hearing at the Royal Court of Justice into matters relating to the British armed forces’ unlawful activities in Afghanistan, Defense Minister Ben Wallace confirmed that the investigation was primarily related to the conduct of Britain’s elite Special Forces in the country. This includes allegations of killings of Afghan civilians by British soldiers.
Wallace was quoted as saying by the media that the confirmation was made under “special circumstances” despite his ministry’s attempts to balance between transparency and national security requirements.
Wallace also said that “such confirmation should not be seen to alter the longstanding position to not comment on the deployment or activities of the UK Special Forces.”
The ongoing probe is also looking into why previous investigations did not lead to any charges despite widespread allegations about the illegal killings of Afghans, including that of children, specifically during 2010-2013. The allegations were made by the family members of the victims, as well as other sources.
The Royal Military Police (RMP) had conducted two investigations — Operation Northmoor and Operation Cestro — into the unlawful killings.
Operation Northmoor, initiated in 2014, led to no charges, despite the state spending around USD 140 million. As part of Operation Cestro, charges were recorded against three soldiers, but no one was prosecuted.
Wallace commissioned the present investigation after legal suits were filed against the government by the law firm Leigh Day on behalf of two families, Saifullah and Noorzai. A number of compelling media reports and investigations came out last year.
The present investigation looks into three matters—allegations about unlawful activities including killings, the following coverup, and inadequate investigations by the RMP.
The Royal Court of Justice inquiry was announced in December 2022 and began in March this year. At the hearing, the head of the inquiry, Lord Justice Haddon Cave, will decide on the petition filed by the RMP and the Defense Ministry about the public disclosure of evidence in the investigation.
The UK Special Forces are made up of specialized units from all military wings, and are deployed for specific operations. They were deployed in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) during its over decade-long occupation of the country.
Systemic immunity for unlawful killings?
The UK forces have faced repeated allegations of war crimes and unlawful killings in Afghanistan. However, rarely have any of those allegations been investigated and anyone held accountable.
On the rare occasions when an inquiry does take place, the findings are often kept confidential. The matter is usually considered closed after paying some amount of money to the families of the victims in the name of compensation.
According to Leigh Day, at least 80 Afghans were killed by UK’s Special Forces between 2010 and 2013. Several Afghan families have made allegations that the British forces killed their members illegally.
In June last year, the BBC had revealed that the UK elite Special Air Services (SAS) had killed at least 54 Afghans, mostly unarmed men or detainees, during a six-month operation in 2010-11 in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.
Similarly, in November last year, an Action on Armed Violence report had claimed that anywhere between 64 and 135 Afghan children were killed by the UK forces between 2006 and 2014. The government has admitted to only 16 deaths.
A joint investigation by Airwars and UK newspaper The Guardian in March this year also questioned the British air force’s claim that it did not kill a single civilian during airstrikes against ISIS in Syria and Iraq in 2016-17. The investigation claimed that dozens of civilians were killed in the airstrikes carried out by the UK Royal Air Force in those countries, conducted as a part of the US-led coalition.
