Dozens of troops still hounded over Iraq

WITCH-HUNT AGAINST OUR HEROES

DOZENS of UK troops are still under investigation over incidents during the Iraq War despite ministers vowing the witch-hunt would be ended last year.

A 70-strong investigations unit is probing 27 incidents involving 127 allegations, official figures show. Each incident involves several soldiers.

The unit took over from the controversial Iraq Historical Allegations Team (Ihat).

A total of £40million has so far been spent investigating British troops over a ten-year period but not a single soldier has been prosecuted, figures reveal.

Operation Northmoor, a separate probe into alleged criminal behaviour in Afghanistan, is also still investigating British troops. Officials last night refused to disclose how many Afghan cases they are investigating. Earlier this year the Ministry of Defence gave the figure as fewer than ten. The MoD refused to reveal whether the number had increased or decreased. The policy of nondisclosure came in after Boris Johnson established a new veterans office this summer with a main priority of stopping the witchhunt against British troops.

The Government announced in February 2017 that Ihat would be shut down following a Daily Mail campaign. Sir Michael Fallon, the then defence secretary, predicted all inquiries would be closed in 2018. Ihat was shut in June 2017, but figures provided by the MoD in June this year show soldiers are still being investigated.

They are now being questioned by a new body based in Wiltshire called the Service Police Legacy Investigations. Fifteen of the 27 incidents are under full investigation, with the other 12 considered ‘directed lines of inquiry’, meaning that the case is at an early stage.

Army major Robert Campbell, who has faced repeated investigations over the drowning of an Iraqi teenager, said: ‘There is no reason to withhold that information, so obviously it’s embarrassing to the MoD. It might be a cover-up because they are putting people under surveillance again.’

An MoD spokesman said: ‘Where there are credible claims of criminal behaviour, it’s right that they are investigated.