Nine British special forces members are under investigation for alleged war crimes in Syria, with another case linked to Afghanistan
London: So, it turns out that nine special forces troops from the UK are facing some serious legal trouble over alleged war crimes in Syria. The government just dropped this news, and it’s a big deal. There’s also another soldier being looked at for actions in Afghanistan.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) mentioned that the Service Prosecuting Authority (SPA) is checking out these cases. They’re looking into at least three different incidents, but they’re keeping the details under wraps for now.
This info came out after a freedom of information request by the Times. It seems like officials were a bit hesitant to share this, but an internal review pushed them to do it.
An MoD spokesperson said that UK personnel are known for their high standards, and anyone who doesn’t meet those standards could face serious consequences, including being kicked out of the service.
They also added that it wouldn’t be right to comment on ongoing investigations, which makes sense.
This news comes at a time when there’s another inquiry happening about whether British special forces unlawfully killed Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. It’s all pretty intense.
The Times made their request after hearing that five SAS members might have committed war crimes in Syria over two years ago. They could even face a court martial.
Apparently, these soldiers shot a suspected terrorist who they thought was about to detonate a suicide bomb. A suicide vest was found nearby, but the guy wasn’t wearing it when he was shot.
Military sources have said that the troops should have arrested him instead of taking lethal action. There are reports that military leaders have sent files to the SPA suggesting murder charges against these soldiers.
The MoD confirmed that eight troops are facing charges in one case, but they didn’t clarify if it’s related to that shooting incident.
Initially, the MoD didn’t want to share this information, claiming it could hurt the effectiveness of the military. But after some internal review, they decided there was no good reason to keep it secret anymore.
In their response, the MoD’s head of information rights explained that they have to let people know if they hold the information requested. But sometimes, they can refuse to confirm or deny if they have it if it could be harmful.
In this case, they figured it wouldn’t hurt to share what they had, which is a step forward.
