KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Australian Federal Police have arrested Ben Roberts-Smith, the country’s most decorated living soldier, at Sydney airport over allegations he committed war crimes during his deployment in Afghanistan, local media reported.
According to Australia’s SBS News, Roberts-Smith, 47, was taken into custody on arrival in Sydney on Tuesday morning and is expected to appear before a New South Wales court for a bail hearing on Wednesday.
He is accused of five counts of unlawful killings, including two counts of murder and three counts of aiding and abetting murder, linked to incidents in Uruzgan province, where Australian forces were deployed as part of the U.S.-led NATO mission.
Authorities allege that on 12 April 2009, in the Kakarak area of Uruzgan, Roberts-Smith intentionally caused the death of one person and separately encouraged or assisted another individual to commit a similar act.
A second allegation relates to 11 September 2012 in Darwan, where he is accused of aiding and abetting the intentional killing of another Afghan.
Further charges concern events on or about 20 October 2012 in Syahchow, where investigators say he acted with another person to intentionally cause the death of an individual and separately assisted another person in carrying out a similar act.
According to the report, each alleged offence carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment under Australian law.
The case is being handled jointly by the Australian Federal Police and the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI), a government body established to examine alleged war crimes by Australian forces. The OSI was created following a major inquiry into Australian troops’ conduct in Afghanistan, which found credible evidence of unlawful killings.
Roberts-Smith, a former member of Australia’s elite Special Air Service Regiment (SASR), was awarded the Victoria Cross, the country’s highest military honor, for his actions in Afghanistan. He has previously denied wrongdoing and sued three journalists for defamation over reports alleging war crimes by Australian special forces in Afghanistan.
In 2023, the Federal Court of Australia ruled against him in a civil case, finding he was responsible for four unlawful killings during his service in Afghanistan under the civil standard of proof. His subsequent appeals were dismissed, and his application for special leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia was also rejected.
The allegations are part of broader scrutiny of Australian special forces operations, particularly in Uruzgan province. More than 39,000 Australian personnel served in Afghanistan over two decades, with 41 killed in the conflict, according to the Reuters. Australian troops withdrew in 2021, the same year the Taliban returned to power following the collapse of the Western-backed Afghan government.
The case is expected to be closely watched both in Australia and internationally, representing one of the most significant legal attempts to hold foreign troops accountable for alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.
