Senior Army figures ‘failed in basic duty’ to find truth over allegations of SAS murders

SENIOR figures in the Army “failed in their basic duty” to find out the truth regarding allegations of murder by the SAS, an Afghanistan inquiry has heard.

Johnny Mercer, the veterans minister, told the Afghanistan inquiry yesterday that senior people in the Ministry of Defence (MOD) had failed to establish if a special forces unit, known as UKSF1, had a policy of executing males of “fighting age” who posed no threat in Afghanistan from 2010 to 2013.

Afghan families accuse UK special forces of conducting a “campaign of murder” against civilians, while senior officers and MOD personnel “sought to prevent adequate investigation”.

Asked by Oliver Glasgow KC, counsel to the inquiry, if Mr Mercer was angry that he had not been told “the true picture” about the three-year period, he said he was “angry” with senior leaders within the MOD and UKSF.

Mr Mercer also told the inquiry he was angry with Ben Wallace, the former defence secretary, after discovering UK special forces officers knew about Afghanistan death squad allegations before Mr Mercer described them as untrue in the House of Commons in January 2020.

Without this knowledge, Mr Mercer claimed he had been allowed to make statements to the Commons when people knew them to be “incorrect”.

He described his time working under Mr Wallace as “very difficult”, adding: “I did not enjoy it and it placed me in a number of very, very uncomfortable positions.”

Two Royal Military Police investigations, codenamed Operation Northmoor and Operation Cestro, are set to be scrutinised by the inquiry.

No charges were brought under Operation Northmoor, which was a £10million investigation that had been set up in 2014 to examine allegations of executions by special forces, including those of children.

Three soldiers were referred to the Service Prosecuting Authority as a result of Operation Cestro but none of them were prosecuted.

The inquiry continues.