UK Minister for Veterans’ Affairs ordered to provide evidence in Afghanistan war crimes inquiry News
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UK Minister for Veterans’ Affairs ordered to provide evidence in Afghanistan war crimes inquiry

The UK Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Plymouth Moor View MP , Johnny Mercer, was ordered to provide evidence in a public inquiry regarding war crimes allegations in Afghanistan under Section 21 notice under the Inquiries Act 2005, the BBC reported on Saturday. The inquiry concerns possible war crimes perpetrated by British Special forces (UKSF) against Afghan civilians and unarmed people between 2010 and 2013.

Mercer has previously provided a witness statement in November 2023 relating to the inquiry following a Rule 9 request where he related being told in 2017 about “serious allegations of incidents that occurred within UKSF.” He stated that while he was aware of the seriousness of the allegations, he “believed ministers were aware of them and that they were being investigated.” He also said that he informed Ministry of Defence (MOD) officials and raised concerns about the allegations when he joined the department in 2019, and that investigations were being carried out by the MOD.

Mercer said that the allegations made by the BBC and the Sunday Times regarding the killings of civilians by UKSF in seemed to him at first to be “on a different level than the one [he] knew the MOD was investigating,” but he later stated the investigations carried out were flawed and that the ministry should have urgently “referred the cases to the Special Investigation Branch of the Royal Military Police.” He refused to name the people who told him about the said incidents.

The inquiry into the UKSP regarding their actions of deliberate detention operations in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013 was launched in 2022, with Defense Secretary Ben Wallace announcing in July 2023 that UK Special Forces are being investigated following allegations of “unlawful activity.” The inquiry aims to address claims that the investigations by Royal Military Police on whether unlawful killings had been carried out by the British armed forces was inadequate. The public inquiry found that the UK Special Air Service was responsible for the killing of two Afghans in October 2023 and injured two children.

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