Former members of the UK Special Forces have come forward with disturbing eyewitness accounts of alleged war crimes committed by their colleagues in Iraq and Afghanistan, breaking years of silence. These revelations, presented in a BBC Panorama investigation, detail shocking incidents of extrajudicial killings, including the murder of unarmed individuals and handcuffed detainees, some of whom were children.
One veteran recounted witnessing the execution of a young boy, clearly under the fighting age, by SAS troops in Afghanistan. The veteran described a pattern where detainees were searched, handcuffed, and then shot, with weapons being planted on their bodies to create the appearance of a legitimate engagement. This testimony highlights a culture of impunity and routine breaches of the laws of war, which dictate that lethal force may only be used against those posing a direct threat.
The scope of these alleged war crimes spans over a decade, far exceeding the three-year period currently under investigation by a UK judge-led public inquiry. For the first time, the Royal Navy's elite Special Boat Service (SBS) faces serious allegations of executing unarmed and wounded individuals. A veteran from the SBS spoke of a "mob mentality" among some troops, describing their behavior as "barbaric" and "lawless," with some soldiers displaying psychopathic traits.
The deployment of Special Forces in Afghanistan aimed to protect British troops from Taliban threats, yet the conflict proved deadly, with 457 UK soldiers losing their lives. Despite the grave nature of these new testimonies, the Ministry of Defence has refrained from commenting on specific allegations but expressed full support for the ongoing inquiry, urging veterans with pertinent information to come forward.
The eyewitness accounts from over 30 former UK Special Forces members provide the most detailed public narrative of these alleged crimes to date, building on years of BBC Panorama's investigative reporting. The program also revealed that former Prime Minister David Cameron was repeatedly warned about civilian killings by UK Special Forces during his tenure, yet these warnings seemingly went unheeded.
Anonymously, the eyewitnesses recounted how the SAS and SBS operated under their own rules, prioritizing kills over captures. One veteran described a practice where individuals previously detained and released were targeted for execution upon reappearance on watchlists. The accounts reveal a chilling environment where killing became addictive for some soldiers, with operations frequently resulting in the murder of all men encountered at target sites.
The testimonies describe instances where assault teams would enter buildings and indiscriminately kill all occupants, including those asleep. A former SBS member detailed how troops would systematically execute wounded individuals, with one medic witnessing a point-blank execution of a patient under his care. Such actions blatantly contravene international laws prohibiting the intentional killing of non-threatening wounded individuals.
Junior team members were often instructed by senior operators to ensure that male detainees did not return to base, effectively sanctioning their executions. These detainees, who had surrendered and were typically handcuffed, were killed contrary to British and international law, which forbids the deliberate killing of unarmed civilians or prisoners of war.
A former SAS operator recounted an incident in Iraq where an unarmed individual was executed without posing any threat, an act that was never properly investigated. This negligence, the veteran suggested, was part of a broader pattern of misconduct that preceded the regiment's operations in Afghanistan, with senior commanders aware of these practices.
Supporting these claims, new video evidence from 2006 SAS operations in Iraq indicates that squadrons kept kill counts, competing with one another. Some SAS members maintained personal tallies, with one operator allegedly responsible for dozens of deaths during a six-month tour in Afghanistan. This operator reportedly sought to "blood his knife" by killing an injured Afghan man, further illustrating the pervasive culture of violence.
The knowledge of these alleged crimes was not limited to individual teams or squadrons. Eyewitnesses claim that within the UK Special Forces command structure, awareness of these actions was widespread, with implicit approval from higher-ups. To cover their tracks, members would plant "drop weapons" on victims to fabricate evidence of hostile engagement, and officers would assist in falsifying post-operational reports to evade military police scrutiny.
The falsified reports often depicted firefights that never occurred, with photographic evidence showing clean headshots inconsistent with combat scenarios. These practices fueled deep concern among Afghan commanders and government officials, with then-President Hamid Karzai consistently raising the issue with David Cameron. Despite these complaints, Cameron's spokesperson maintains that specific incidents involving