Australia punished special forces involved in executing Afghans 3
On November 26, the Australian Army sent notices of revocation of military citizenship to at least 10 special forces soldiers due to allegations of executing civilians in Afghanistan.
These people have at least 14 days to respond to the notice of revocation of military citizenship. It is currently unclear whether they have legal representation or not.
The Australian Ministry of Defense has not commented on the information.
Australian special forces patrolled in Afghanistan in 2013. Photo: US Army.
The information came after Australian military court judge Paul Brereton last week announced an investigation report stating that a number of soldiers from the Air Force Special Forces (SAS) and commando regiment killed 39 civilians.
The investigation was conducted by Brereton over the past 4 years, in which a number of special forces soldiers were accused of `cutting the throats` of victims, expressing gloating attitudes, performing `body counts` and placing weapons with them.
According to the investigation report, the victims were murdered `not in a combat situation`, `not participating in combat or no longer participating in combat`.
The report said the majority of the murdered victims were `captured and restrained`, meaning they were protected under international prisoner of war law.
`Normally, the patrol commander would select a prisoner and a new soldier, then order the soldier to kill the prisoner. Weapons and radios would then be placed next to the body and a story would be told.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to apologize before the investigation report was released.
Brereton opened an investigation with Australian special forces when assigned to examine dozens of cases in Afghanistan in 2005-2016.
Judge Brereton recommended criminal prosecution and the revocation of medals from the soldiers involved in the killing of 39 Afghans, immediate compensation for the victims and their families, and revocation of commendations from units with
Australian authorities in March opened an investigation into a special forces unit suspected of executing Afghan civilians, after video of the 2012 raid was released to the media.
Australia has deployed special forces to fight with US troops and allies in Afghanistan since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
