KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Several former members of the United Kingdom’s elite Special Forces have broken years of silence to testify about war crimes allegedly committed by their fellow soldiers during operations in Afghanistan, according to a BBC investigation.
The revelations, made public through the BBC’s Panorama programme, include disturbing eyewitness accounts of the extrajudicial killing of unarmed civilians, including children, by operatives from the Special Air Service (SAS) and Special Boat Service (SBS) – two of the UK’s most elite military units. Veterans who served in these units described a “culture of impunity” where rules of war were systematically violated.
One veteran told the BBC that he witnessed a young Afghan boy, clearly underage, being handcuffed and then shot. “They’d handcuff someone, shoot them, then remove the plastic cuffs and place a weapon next to the body to make it look justified,” he said. Such killings, according to the testimony, became “routine.”
In another shocking account, an ex-SBS soldier said some of his comrades developed a “mob mentality” and behaved with “barbaric” cruelty. He described operations where wounded Afghans were executed point-blank, and buildings raided at night where everyone inside was shot while sleeping.
These incidents, according to over 30 sources interviewed by the BBC, were not isolated. Rather, they indicate a pattern of unlawful killings spanning more than a decade, far beyond the three years currently being investigated by a UK public inquiry. Witnesses claim that senior commanders were aware of what was happening and that reports were deliberately falsified to avoid scrutiny.
Veterans detailed how British operatives allegedly planted weapons on bodies, edited post-operation reports, and used language manipulation to escape triggering formal investigations. Intelligence officers said reports would claim there had been firefights, while photographic evidence showed clean headshots and no sign of combat.
A former SAS soldier admitted that some operatives kept personal kill counts, treating the war like a competition. One was described as “notorious,” allegedly seeking to kill someone on every mission.
BBC Panorama also reported that former Afghan President Hamid Karzai repeatedly raised concerns about the killing of civilians, including children, with then-Prime Minister David Cameron. According to former Afghan national security adviser Dr. Rangin Dadfar Spanta, Karzai was “consistently and repeatedly” warning British officials about the alleged crimes.
The UK Ministry of Defence has said it is cooperating with the ongoing public inquiry and encourages anyone with relevant information to come forward. However, it has declined to comment on the specific allegations, citing the inquiry’s ongoing nature.
For many in Afghanistan, especially families who lost loved ones during night raids or military operations, these revelations may come as grim confirmation of long-held suspicions.
