Former British Soldier Alleges UK Troops Killed Afghan Civilians

British media, citing a former member of the British armed forces and a former British journalist, have reported that British troops killed Afghan civilians and mistreated detainees during their mission in Afghanistan.

Christopher Green, a former member of the British armed forces, told the Afghanistan Inquiry in confidential testimony that he regrets not speaking out about the incidents sooner.

The report states: “Green said his unit’s intelligence team was pretty clear that there was nothing to suggest that the sons were anything other than farmers. I think I can only share my regret with you that I didn’t speak sooner.”

One witness, without naming the province where the incident took place, said British forces killed three farmer brothers in the village of Rahim and later paid their family more than £3,600 in compensation.

Monica Grenfell, a former journalist who also worked in the kitchen and stores section of the UK’s Special Forces, said: “I specifically recall him telling me that he would put prisoners on a forklift, raise it up and drive very fast so that they fell off. You felt no one was really watching them (the soldiers), and the language was just… I’ve never known the language like it.”

The UK’s independent inquiry into the operations of its Special Forces in Afghanistan began in December 2022 following serious allegations that civilians may have been unlawfully killed and that efforts were made to conceal the incidents during operations conducted between 2010 and 2013.

The inquiry has not yet reached a final conclusion.