Senior military officers buried evidence that British troops were executing detainees in Afghanistan, the High Court has been told.
Ministry of Defence documents reveal UK Special Forces officers suspected their men were killing unarmed Afghans who posed no threat.
They also show the allegations were kept secret and not reported to the Royal Military Police (RMP).
The MoD says the evidence is not new and has already been investigated.
The court case follows a 2019 investigation by BBC Panorama and the Sunday Times that raised allegations of unlawful killings by special forces during the war in Afghanistan.
The man bringing the case, Saifullah, claims four members of his family were assassinated in the early hours of 16 February 2011.
A week later, the four members of Saifullah’s family were shot dead in similar circumstances by the same special forces assault team.
The court heard a British officer provided a written statement to a commanding officer after a member of the special forces told him all fighting-age males were being killed regardless of the threat they posed.
All the anecdotal reports of unlawful killings were locked away in a top secret “controlled-access security compartment”, the court heard.
In 2014, the RMP started investigating the alleged executions after receiving reports from Afghan families and whistleblowers from the British military.
Its investigation, called Operation Northmoor, was closed in 2019 without resulting in any prosecutions.
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Senior military officers buried evidence that British troops were executing detainees in Afghanistan, the High Court has been told.
Ministry of Defence documents reveal UK Special Forces officers suspected their men were killing unarmed Afghans who posed no threat.
They also show the allegations were kept secret and not reported to the Royal Military Police (RMP).
The MoD says the evidence is not new and has already been investigated.
The court case follows a 2019 investigation by BBC Panorama and the Sunday Times that raised allegations of unlawful killings by special forces during the war in Afghanistan.
The man bringing the case, Saifullah, claims four members of his family were assassinated in the early hours of 16 February 2011.
A week later, the four members of Saifullah’s family were shot dead in similar circumstances by the same special forces assault team.
The court heard a British officer provided a written statement to a commanding officer after a member of the special forces told him all fighting-age males were being killed regardless of the threat they posed.
All the anecdotal reports of unlawful killings were locked away in a top secret “controlled-access security compartment”, the court heard.
In 2014, the RMP started investigating the alleged executions after receiving reports from Afghan families and whistleblowers from the British military.
Its investigation, called Operation Northmoor, was closed in 2019 without resulting in any prosecutions.
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-59238181
What’s new?
Wow, who could have guessed? ^/s
Any we are wondering why they hated us
It’s always the ones you’d least expect.
Do you think NATO conduct would be any better in a war with belarus?