Afghanistan Times
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KABUL — Former members of Britain’s elite Special Forces have given BBC Panorama harrowing eyewitness accounts of alleged war crimes committed during the war in Afghanistan, including the execution of children and detainees by SAS and SBS troops.
In the most damning testimony yet, over 30 former soldiers broke years of silence to accuse colleagues of killing unarmed civilians in night raids, executing handcuffed prisoners—some as young as boys—and planting weapons to stage scenes of combat.
One SAS veteran recounted seeing a young boy, clearly not of fighting age, handcuffed and then shot. “They’d search someone, handcuff them, then shoot them,” he said. “Then they’d cut the handcuffs and plant a pistol by the body.”
The SBS, the Royal Navy’s special forces unit, is implicated for the first time in similar acts. A former SBS operator described sweeping through Afghan homes and killing wounded individuals in cold blood: “It was expected, not hidden. Everyone knew.”
The claims suggest a pattern of extrajudicial killings stretching over a decade—far beyond the scope of the current UK public inquiry investigating three years of special forces operations. Former operatives say some soldiers were “intoxicated” by killing, competing for high kill counts, and exhibiting “psychotic” behavior.
Eyewitnesses say the alleged war crimes were widely known within UKSF command structures, with falsified reports and staged photos used to conceal unlawful killings. One veteran told Panorama, “The reports were a fiction. Everyone knew. There was implicit approval.”
Despite repeated complaints from then Afghan President Hamid Karzai to British leaders about civilian casualties during night raids, no formal action was taken. A spokesperson for former PM David Cameron denied knowledge of specific incidents involving UK forces, dismissing claims of a cover-up as “total nonsense.”
The Ministry of Defence said it is “fully committed” to supporting the inquiry and urged veterans with relevant information to come forward. However, the BBC’s investigation raises urgent questions about systemic abuse and lack of oversight during one of the most controversial chapters of the UK’s role in Afghanistan.
