Inquiry into unlawful alleged unlawful Afghan killings launches

• The inquiry into allegations of unlawful Afghan killings launched.
• Lord Justice Haddon-Cave called the allegations “extremely serious”.
• The investigation will focus on night raids conducted by UK special forces.

The inquiry into allegations of unlawful Afghan killings by UK special forces in Afghanistan is critical to “restoring the reputation of the military and the country”, its chair has said.

Lord Justice Haddon-Cave called the allegations “extremely serious”.

The investigation will focus on night raids conducted by UK special forces between the middle of 2010 and the middle of 2013.

Both claims of killings and subsequent cover-ups will be examined.

Deliberate Detention Operations (DDOs), which were carried out by special-forces teams, will be the focus of the investigation.

It follows what the court referred to as “significant reporting” by the Panorama show the previous year, which revealed that one British SAS squadron may have killed at least 54 Afghans without authorization during a six-month tour.

The investigation also comes in response to two legal complaints made by the families of those killed by British personnel in DDOs.

Lord Justice Haddon-Cave invited anyone with pertinent information to come forward when he announced the probe on Wednesday.

“It is clearly important that anyone who has broken the law is referred to the relevant authorities for investigation, and equally, those who have done nothing wrong should rightly have the cloud of suspicion lifted from them,” he said.

Due to the “highly sensitive” nature of the testimony, Lord Justice Haddon-Cave stated that many of the inquiry’s hearings would need to be place in private.

Abdul Aziz Uzbakzai, an Afghan farmer whose son and daughter-in-law were killed by British special forces during a night raid in 2012 and whose grandsons Imran and Bilal were gravely wounded in the operation, told the Media the inquiry “cannot bring back my son and daughter-in-law, nor can it bring Imran and Bilal’s parents back to them”.

“But after 11 long years, I still want the British soldiers and other officials to come forward and reveal the truth,” Mr. Uzbakzai said.

“We are still unaware of why we were targeted, and we long to know why.”

Tessa Gregory, a partner at the legal firm Leigh Day, said the clients of the company welcomed the beginning of the probe.

The business has represented some of the family members of those died on DDOs.

“Throughout years of secrecy and cover-ups our clients have fought tirelessly for justice for their loved ones’ deaths and they hope that a bright light will now be shone on the practices and command of UK special forces in Afghanistan,” Ms. Gregory said.

Operation Northmoor, an inquiry into claims of unlawful killings, was started by the Royal Military Police in 2014 but was formally ended in 2019 with no charges.

Despite Operation Northmoor having more than 600 alleged offenses within its purview, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) said at the time that no proof of crime had been discovered.

The British military interfered with the Royal Military Police’s efforts to acquire evidence during Operation Northmoor, investigators from the RMP told the Media last year.

They also challenged the MoD’s claim that no signs of criminal activity had been discovered.

The investigation will look into whether the MoD’s actions and the Royal Military Police’s inquiries were sufficient, in addition to the underlying claims of unlawful murders.

The MoD told the media on Wednesday it was also encouraging anyone with information to come forward to the inquiry.

A spokesperson said it was not appropriate for the MoD to comment further “on cases which are within the scope of the Statutory Inquiry”, adding that it was “up to the Statutory Inquiry Team, led by Lord Justice Haddon-Cave, to determine which allegations are investigated”.

Labor’s shadow defense secretary, John Healey, said: “This special inquiry is welcome and must succeed.”

He added: “This cannot be swept under the carpet.”

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