Afghan killings hidden to protect SAS morale
Former UK special forces chief says alleged SAS killings were not referred to police to protect morale
The testimony of a senior former special forces officer confirming that allegations of SAS war crimes in Afghanistan were deliberately not referred to the Royal Military Police because of concerns about “morale” has emerged as the latest damning evidence in the Independent Inquiry relating to Afghanistan.
N2252, the former chief of staff of UK Special Forces, the second-highest ranked officer in the organisation, told the inquiry that he believed allegations were not reported because an investigation could “disrupt operations and negatively affect morale.” He acknowledged that UKSF “seemed to be prioritising the safety of our own soldiers over the safety of the Afghan detainees.”
His evidence, released on 28–29 May 2026, adds to a mountain of testimony that paints a picture of institutional suppression of evidence of alleged extra-judicial killings by the SAS unit known as UKSF1, during deployments in Helmand Province between 2010 and 2013.
The evidence dump also included testimony that Afghan President Hamid Karzai had raised direct concerns with British authorities about civilian killings by SAS troops, and that Afghan partner military forces had refused to operate alongside UKSF1 by spring 2011, a major issue for NATO-led campaigns.
The victims’ families, represented by solicitors Leigh Day and barrister Richard Hermer KC (now Attorney General), have waited more than a decade for accountability.
Among the cases now before the inquiry is the killing of Hussain Uzbakzai, 24, and his wife Ruqqia Haleem, 24, who were shot dead while sleeping in their courtyard in Shesh Aba, Nimroz Province, on 6–7 August 2012. Their children, Bilal, then aged one, and Imran, then aged three, were shot and survived. The family patriarch, Abdul Aziz Uzbakzai, witnessed the deaths of his son, daughter-in-law, and the injury of two grandchildren.
The inquiry has heard allegations that SAS operated an unofficial policy of executing males of “fighting age” regardless of threat, a practice known as “flat packing.” A letter dated 5 April 2011 from a Special Forces commanding officer to the then-Director of Special Forces warned: “There is in effect an unofficial policy amongst the units in Afghanistan to kill wherever possible fighting aged males on target, regardless of the immediate threat they pose to our troops.”
N1466, a former Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations in UKSF HQ and the highest-ranking former special forces officer to give evidence on the alleged cover-up, told the inquiry he lost confidence in senior officers’ willingness to report allegations. “I didn’t join the UKSF for this sort of behaviour,” he said, describing the line between lawful and unlawful killings as “wafer-thin.”
The Ministry of Defence has maintained its standard response: that British troops served with “courage and professionalism.” It has declined to comment on the specific allegations as the inquiry continues.
The strongest counter-argument from the establishment is that no criminal convictions have followed more than a decade of investigations, and that SAS soldiers are currently refusing to give evidence by relying on the right against self-incrimination, rendering the inquiry, in their framing, a tribunal of accusation without defence.
But the families have a question that remains unanswered: how many more years must they wait for the British state to treat the deaths of their loved ones as worthy of the same institutional protection afforded to the soldiers who allegedly killed them?
