Afghanistan veterans face brutality quiz
Taliban suspects claim ill-treatment
POLICE have launched a criminal investigation into claims of ill treatment made by suspected Taliban insurgents captured by British soldiers in Afghanistan.
More than 100 Afghans believed to have helped kill and maim UK troops have alleged they were mistreated during the 13-year war.
They claim soldiers broke the law and treated them badly. Last night a minister described the claims as ‘ludicrous’.
The Royal Military Police launched the probe after human rights lawyers Leigh Day and Phil Shiner’s Public Interest Lawyers brought the allegations to them. Officers from the National Crime Agency and Greater Manchester Police have also been dragged in to the operation codenamed Operation Northmoor.
The lawyers are believed to have Pashtun-speaking teams throughout Afghanistan asking locals if they were ever mistreated by the British. The law firms took on the cases and mounted legal claims against the Ministry of Defence. Other locals then heard who to contact if they had a grievance with the British. Sus- pected insurgents are also able to approach UK teams still in the country and lodge complaints.
The investigation is similar to the establishment of the Iraq Historical Allegations Team set up in 2010 to investigate criminal activity by UK forces in Iraq. A 145-strong team has so far spent five years looking into alleged unlawful deaths and claims of mistreatment, but there is yet to be a single criminal conviction.
Since 2003, the MoD has spent £100million on Iraq-related investigations and compensation, with £44million more earmarked for ongoing claims from Iraqis up to 2019. The AlSweady public inquiry cost £31million and lasted five years but exonerated British troops of claims they went on a torture and killing spree following a 2004 battle in southern Iraq.
The latest revelations follow the Mail’s highlighting of the case of Royal Marine Alexander Blackman who was sentenced to life in prison for killing a mortally wounded Taliban insurgent. His ‘moment of madness’ came after a number of his comrades were tortured or blown up by the Taliban. Supporters of ‘Marine A’ are compiling a new dossier of evidence to try to take his case back to the Court of Appeal.
The new claims mean serving and former personnel will be brought before investigators to justify their actions in the heat of battle.
Last night, the police inquiry triggered outrage as it emerged the process could go on for years and have a devastating effect on troops on the battlefield. Civil claims are expected to follow with some insurgents claiming they weren’t given the right food.
Defence Minister Penny Mordaunt attacked those pursuing ‘ludicrous l egal claims’. She said she was ‘extremely concerned’ about the new legal developments that ‘called into question the Armed Forces’ ability to operate effectively’.
The i nvestigation i s examining allegations of criminal abuse and illtreatment made by Afghans who claim to have been detained by the UK during Operation Herrick from 2005 to 2013.
But former military officers said the lawyers representing the Afghans making the claims were ‘ exploiting every chink in the system’ and condemned the ‘gross abuse’ of taxpayers’ money.
According to defence sources, the near-£150million bill to defend British soldiers who fought in Iraq is set to spiral above £200million as thousands of Afghan insurgents now take advantage of human rights law.
One source told the Mail: ‘In a few years there will be thousands of claims coming through. One of the cases includes a detainee who is complaining because he didn’t like the food.’
Former Army Major Charles Heyman, who is now a military analyst, warned that the investigations would have a long-term effect on soldiers’ morale. He added: ‘It is a scandalous waste of public money.’
The MoD said it would fight ‘persistent legal claims’ that ‘ undermine soldiers’ ability to do their job’.
Taliban advances in southern Afghanistan are ‘hugely worrying’ and present a ‘ moral case’ for British troops to return, a former British commander admitted yesterday.
Colonel Lincoln Jopp commanded British forces in Lashkah Gar in 2010.
‘Ludicrous legal claims’