UK probes allegations into claims its troops killed Afghan civilians

KABUL (Pajhwok): The United Kingdom (UK) has launched an independent inquiry into allegations of unlawful killings by its soldiers in Afghanistan, according to a media report on Friday.

The statutory inquiry headed by senior judge Charles Haddon-Cave will start early next year, UK ministry announced on Thursday, according to a report by Aljazeera.

It will probe the alleged wrongdoing by commandos in the elite Special Air Service (SAS) corps spanning a period from mid-2010 to mid-2013.

The SAS corps were accused of killing dozens of Afghans in suspicious circumstances, but the military chain of command concealed concerns, the BBC claimed in a report earlier this year.

Unarmed Afghan men were routinely shot dead “in cold blood” by SAS troops during night-time raids, and weapons were planted on them to justify the crimes, the broadcaster reported following its own four-year probe.

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