Five British SAS elite soldiers were arrested for war crimes in Syria
British military police arrested 5 soldiers from its elite squad, known as SAS, on suspicion of committing war crimes while conducting operations in Syria.
The case against the five revolves around their shooting and killing of a suspect who they believed intended to carry out a suicide attack in Syria two years ago.
This was considered an excessive use of force, while the accused soldiers deny this, indicating that the person posed a legitimate threat.
The Serious Crimes Unit at the Ministry of Defense conducted an investigation, based on files from two military commanders, recommending that murder charges be brought against the five soldiers, which were sent to the Public Prosecution Authority.
The British Ministry of Defense refused to comment directly on the investigation, despite official sources confirming that the information circulated in military circles was accurate.
A Ministry of Defense spokesman said, “We hold our employees to the highest standards, and any allegations of wrongdoing are taken very seriously”.
The SAS division has been deployed in Syria over the past decade, and has secretly participated in the fight against ISIS and in supporting the Syria Democratic Forces, where their role was limited to identifying targets on the ground for British Air Force aircraft, including drones and Typhoon aircraft, to attack.
It’s not certain that any of the arrests will lead to the soldiers being prosecuted, and convictions of British soldiers for war crimes are extremely rare, but the arrests come at a time when the division’s activities in Afghanistan are under scrutiny due to allegations that its soldiers killed 80 Afghans without trial during the war.
Until now, the identity of the accused soldiers remains unknown, and will likely be preserved in the event of any proceedings before the military court.
The SAS usually operates in complete secrecy and is prepared to carry out risky missions behind the lines and in locations where the UK doesn’t officially recognize a military presence.
Amnesty International said the war crimes allegations should be investigated. Christian Benedict, director of crisis response at the human rights group, said, “As a matter of principle, it is important that all members of the UK armed forces are fully accountable to the law”.
