UK special forces operated secretly in Nigeria, report reveals

THE British Special Air Service and the country’s other special forces have operated clandestinely in Nigeria and 18 other nations over the past 12 years, research has revealed.

It could be recalled that in 2012, a group of SBS commandos attempted and failed to rescue a Briton and an Italian held by an Islamist group in Nigeria.

The British SAS also operated secretly in Algeria, Estonia, France, Oman, Iraq, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Cyprus,

Pakistan, Somalia, the Philippines, Russia, Syria, Ukraine, Yemen and most recently Sudan.

In Mali, UK Special Forces provided non- combat support during French military action against jihadi groups. They also trained Nigerian, Moroccan, and Camerounian soldiers and collated intelligence threat assessments in response to increasing instability in the Sahel region.

The elite military units don’t have UK ministers publicly certifying their operations, thus, they operate covertly. But, based on media leaks, a research organisation called Action on Gun Violence ( AOGV) has compiled a list of their operations from 2011, the body added in a May 23, 2023 report titled, Britain’s Special Forces on service in at least 19 countries since 2011.

It gives the impression that the prime minister and defence secretary frequently send personnel of the SAS, Special Boat Service, and Special Reconnaissance Regiment on dangerous operations, usually when Britain is not at war, The Guardian UK reported.

Special forces have been particularly active in Syria, with reports of them entering the country in 2012 to help rebel groups fighting against President Bashar alAssad. They are also reported to have been sent in 2013 to identify military targets in advance of a bombing campaign that MPS ended up voting against.

But because of the fixation with secrecy, Matt Tonroe, a member of the SAS, was officially identified as a member of the Parachute Regiment when he was murdered in Syria in 2018. It was later discovered that he had actually been killed by his US colleague’s grenade, not an improvised explosive device. Although Britain is not an official participant in the conflict, 50 members of the UK special forces were named as being present in Ukraine earlier this year in leaked Pentagon documents. The numbers for the U. S. and France were listed as being 14 and 15, respectively. Nonetheless, their goal was left unstated.