A former senior UK Special Forces officer has told a public inquiry into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan that the SAS had a "golden pass allowing them to get away with murder"
In evidence given to a public inquiry into suspected war crimes in Afghanistan, the soldier said an allegedly rogue special forces unit had targeted all males of fighting age, including under 16s, even if they posed no threat to troops.
The whistleblower – known only by the cipher N1799 – told the inquiry that he believed unit UKSF1 had carried out an “illegal” policy of targeting “everybody” on operations.
His commanding officer from rival unit UKSF3 also gave evidence and said he had been told by the whistleblower that UKSF1 had “committed multiple instances of murder”, the inquiry investigating extrajudicial killings in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013 heard.
The special forces whistleblower said UKSF1 had carried out the “flat packing” murders of civilians.
In the first evidence of its kind, the officer said he was told that a pillow “had been put over the head” of an Afghan in at least one case, before he was “killed with a pistol”, the inquiry heard.
The documents released on Wednesday also reveal new details about an explosive meeting in Afghanistan in February 2011, during which the Afghan special forces that partnered the SAS angrily withdrew their support.
The meeting followed a growing rift between the SAS and the Afghan special forces over what the Afghans saw as unlawful killings by members of the SAS.
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