British particular forces troopers reportedly had an “unofficial coverage” of killing unarmed “fighting-age males” in Afghanistan
One of many UK’s most senior generals allegedly withheld proof of Particular Air Service (SAS) troopers executing handcuffed detainees in Afghanistan as a substitute of exposing it to army police, the BBC reported on Thursday.
Common Gwyn Jenkins, who’s now the second most senior officer within the UK’s armed forces, reportedly obtained detailed written accounts of conversations of troopers describing extrajudicial killings of Afghans in 2011, the BBC claims, citing an investigation by its Panorama program.
In March of that 12 months, Jenkins allegedly obtained data from an officer within the UK’s Particular Boat Providers that his colleagues had been unlawfully killing unarmed individuals throughout nighttime raids, the report stated. It added that troopers had been routinely killing “fighting-age males,” outlined as males aged 15 or over, no matter whether or not they posed a menace.
“In a single case, it was talked about a pillow was put over the pinnacle of a person being killed with a pistol,” one account within the paperwork states, per the report.
It provides that as a substitute of handing over the proof to army police as required by legislation, Jenkins positioned the paperwork in a labeled folder and locked it in a protected after briefing his superior, Common Jonathan Web page, about its contents. The BBC additionally famous that troopers supposedly positioned weapons near the our bodies of unarmed Afghans in an try to justify the killings.
The media outlet reported that the failure to reveal the file had beforehand been heard in courtroom, however the identities of Jenkins and Web page had been saved secret by the UK’s Ministry of Protection. The file was locked away, and 4 years later, a whistleblower notified the Royal Army Police.
In his be aware to Web page detailing the proof, Jenkins wrote that he had been conscious “for a while” of claims that SAS troopers had an “unofficial coverage” of finishing up “executions of supposed Taliban associates,” including that he had obtained additional data which “makes me critically involved for the fame of the [UK Special Forces],” the BBC stated.
Claims of executions carried out by UK troopers in Afghanistan are presently the topic of an inquiry on the Royal Courts of Justice in London. Final month, the courtroom heard claims that SAS officers had deleted recordsdata associated to allegations of extrajudicial killings earlier than investigating authorities may view them.
The listening to might result in a state of affairs the place British troops might be tried for homicide, the Every day Mail stated on Thursday. Neither Jenkins nor Web page responded to a request for remark, the BBC stated, whereas the Ministry of Protection stated it was “not applicable” to remark whereas the inquiry was underway.
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