Australia’s elite special forces “unlawfully killed” 39 Afghan civilians and prisoners, including summary executions as part of initiation rituals, evidence in a searing military inquiry being referred to a special war crimes prosecutor showed.
A years-long internal investigation into military misconduct was yesterday released, prompting Australian Defence Force Chief General Angus Campbell to admit a “destructive” culture of impunity among special forces, leading to a string of alleged murders and cover-ups spanning years.
“Some patrols took the law into their own hands, rules were broken, stories concocted, lies told and prisoners killed,” Campbell said, apologizing “sincerely and unreservedly” to the people of Afghanistan. “This shameful record includes alleged instances in which new patrol members were coerced to shoot a prisoner in order to achieve that soldier’s first kill, in an appalling practice known as ‘blooding.’”
Photo: EPA-EFE
The report also reported evidence that troops were engaged in “body count competitions,” and covered up unlawful killings by staging skirmishes, planting weapons and adding names to target lists retrospectively.
The military’s own Inspector-General produced the harrowing 465-page official inquiry into events between 2005 and 2016 that detailed dozens of killings “outside the heat of battle.”
It recommended that 19 individuals be referred to the Australian Federal Police, compensation be paid to victims’ families and the implementation of reforms.
Campbell went a step further, saying that those involved had brought a “stain” on their regiment, on the armed forces and on Australia, and would be referred to the Office of the Special Investigator.
He also moved to revoke distinguished service medals awarded to special operations forces who served in Afghanistan between 2007 and 2013.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the US, more than 26,000 Australian uniformed personnel were sent to Afghanistan to fight alongside US and allied forces against the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other Islamist extremists.
Australian combat troops left the country in 2013, but since then, a series of often-brutal accounts have emerged.
They range from reports of troops killing a six-year-old child in a house raid to a prisoner being shot dead to save space in a helicopter.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday called his Afghan counterpart to foreshadow “some disturbing allegations” that the government was taking “very seriously.”
The Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs labeled the actions detailed in the report as “unforgivable,” but acknowledged its publication as an “important step toward justice.”
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