SAS accused of executing handcuffed children and murdering unarmed people in their sleep in shocking new eyewitness claims of UK ‘war crimes’

Special Forces veterans have come forward to describe seeing SAS soldiers executing a handcuffed child and Taliban suspects while they were asleep. 

While the claims are part of evidence being studied by an ongoing High Court inquiry into alleged SAS war crimes, this is the first time these witnesses have spoken in public.

‘They handcuffed a young boy and shot him,’ one veteran who served with the SAS in Afghanistan told BBC Panorama. ‘He was clearly a child, not even close to fighting age.’

Killings of prisoners ‘became routine’, the veteran said.  

He described seeing SAS men ‘search someone, handcuff them, then shoot them’, before slicing off their plastic handcuffs and ‘planting a pistol’ by the body.

The documentary also heard claims that David Cameron, UK prime minister between 2010 and 2013 when the SAS campaign took place, was repeatedly made aware of concerns over allegedly illegal killings by Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Mr Karzai ‘consistently, repeatedly mentioned this issue’, former Afghan national security adviser Dr Rangin Dadfar Spanta told the programme. 

Footage of an SAS nighttime raid aired during the Panorama documentary 

One veteran claimed that killings of prisoners by SAS men ‘became routine’

One former SAS man said that killing could become ‘an addictive thing to do’ and claimed some of his colleagues in Afghanistan 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.’ 

The judge-led probe into the activities of UK Special Forces is expected to conclude later this year.

In 2017, an SAS soldier broke the regiment’s code of omerta to provide similar testimony to The Mail on Sunday.

His evidence was subsequently passed to the Independent Inquiry Relating to Afghanistan which is being held at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

The soldier interviewed by The Mail on Sunday took part in the controversial night raids and indicated to the newspaper he personally executed Taliban suspects.

The SAS’s alleged shoot to kill policy was illegal under international law and constituted a breech UK Rules of Engagement.

Under these rules, lethal force could only be used in situations when Taliban suspects posed an immediate threat.

David Cameron, the prime minister between 2010 and 2013 when the SAS campaign took place, was repeatedly made aware of concerns over allegedly illegal killings by Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

As some Afghan men were asleep at the time, they could have been detained rather than executed.

Other Afghans, who according to intelligence reports were involved in the deadly insurgency against UK troops, are understood to have been executed after being taken captive. 

The High Court is hearing evidence in open and closed sessions. SAS commanders, said to be aware of their troops’ misconduct, have given evidence behind closed doors. 

It remains to be seen whether the independent inquiry, which was ordered by former Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, leads to a criminal investigation.

Troops could face murder charges while commanders, who allegedly filed bogus reports to cover up their wrongdoing. could also face action.

Over the course of the UK’s 20-year deployment to Afghanistan, 457 British troops lost their lives.

The bloodiest years of Britain’s war in the country were 2009 and 2010 – the years immediate before the SAS launched a controversial secret campaign against the Taliban.

The High Court has previously heard evidence that as many as 80 Taliban suspects were executed in custody by UK soldiers in Helmand Province from 2010 to 2013. 

Afghan and Western Special Forces in Helmand Province Afghanistan fighting the Taliban

One witness, who was identified only by the cypher N2107, told a closed session of the Independent Inquiry into Afghanistan that it was as if the SAS had ‘a golden pass allowing them to get away with murder’.

He raised concerns in 2011 after finding it difficult to believe summaries of shooting incidents provided by those who were involved.

N2107 explained he wondered why the number of Enemy Killed in Action (EKIA) was much higher than the numbers of weapons recovered by British troops.

Another witness told the court he thought ‘on at least some operations’ a British unit ‘was carrying out murders’. 

Last night, the Ministry of Defence said: ‘We are fully committed to supporting the Independent Inquiry relating to Afghanistan as its work continues.

‘It is not appropriate for the MOD to comment on allegations which may be within the scope of the Statutory Inquiry, or to speculate on outcomes.

‘Anyone can provide evidence to the Inquiry, no matter where in the world they are. If any potential evidence is – or has been – uncovered by BBC Panorama, we would urge them to get in touch with the Inquiry team and the Police.’

• Panorama – Special Forces: I Saw War Crimes is now available on iPlayer or on BBC One at 8pm tonight.  

***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk