Afghanistan Inquiry told of cover-ups

THE Director of UK Special Forces made a “conscious decision” to cover up potential war crimes in Afghanistan, an inquiry has been told.

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The Afghanistan Inquiry has released summaries of closed hearings in which members of the special forces (UKSF) have given evidence about alleged murders in the war-torn nation between 2010 and 2013.

A senior officer, known only to the probe as N1466, said he believed statistics from deliberate detention operations (DDOs), including the number of weapons found compared to enemies killed in action, “didn’t seem credible”, a view he believed was shared by the Director of UK Special Forces (DSF).

N1466, who was the assistant chief of staff for operations in UKSF headquarters when he became concerned about the statistics in February 2011, accused the DSF of controlling the information about alleged murders “in a way that I think indicated a desire to keep it low profile”.