The Conversation: For the past two years, Paul Brereton, a New South Wales Supreme Court judge and Army Reserve major general, has been conducting an investigation into the conduct of members of the SAS in Afghanistan. While the findings are not yet known, leaks from within the Australian Defence Force (ADF) have suggested that as many
WASHINGTON, July 25 (Sputnik) – US Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A) is investigating reports that airstrikes led to civilian casualties during a military operation in Kunduz province, USFOR-A spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Martin O’Donnell said in a press release on Wednesday. Last week, the Afghan Defense Ministry confirmed that 14 people were “killed and wounded” in a joint airstrike
McClatchy: Robert Bales, the former Army staff sergeant who killed 16 Afghan civilians, including seven children, will likely ask the president to commute his life sentence once he exhausts his legal appeals for one of the nation’s most notorious war crimes. Click here to read more (external link).
Human Rights Watch: The accounts are both shocking and horribly familiar. Soldiers acting as if they were above the law assault and murder civilians in a barbaric competition to outdo each other. New recruits compelled to prove themselves by killing. The victims are not enemies in battle but the elderly, men with disabilities, a farmer
Sputnik: It was reported that on the mission in Afghanistan an Australian trooper was pressured by higher-ranking soldiers from the Special Air Service Regiment to kill an unarmed elderly detainee. Click here to read more (external link). Related ‘Bad Taste Joke’: Analyst Explains Improper Demeanor of Aussies in Afghanistan
9News (Australia): The nation’s top military leaders believe there is evidence Australian soldiers might be guilty of committing war crimes in Afghanistan. 9NEWS has confirmed an internal defence inquiry due in October will consider levelling criminal charges against a handful of elite special forces troops. Click here to read more (external link).
MOSCOW, June 9 (Sputnik) – Moscow condemns the reported war crimes committed by Australian servicemen during their mission in Afghanistan, urging the authorities to launch an objective investigation and hold those responsible to account, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a Saturday statement. On Thursday, The Sydney Morning Herald said, citing a confidential defense inquiry,
Press TV June 8, 2018 A report says Australia’s special forces have been accused of committing war crimes in Afghanistan and having a “disregard for human life” in the war-torn country. The secret file leaked on Friday reported some Australian troops had engaged in the “unsanctioned and illegal application of violence on operations” with “a disregard
The Nation (Pakistan): Pakistan has been the target of a steady and ever-growing stream of accusations linking it with the ‘control’ or ‘influence’ over certain groups in Afghanistan; an accusation that has been denied persistently… A detailed reading of the Request, however, shows that Pakistan is not immune from the Court’s jurisdiction in this case. The
Mohammad Habibzada VOA News / April 17, 2018 Islamic State militants executed a 12-year-old boy on charges of helping local police in northern Afghanistan, according to a senior Afghan government official who spoke to VOA. The boy was accused of supplying food and water to an Afghan local police check post in northern Jawzjan province.