MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UK Ministry of Defense criticizes BBC Panorama program for putting “armed forces personnel at risk”

MOD has put out a strong statement criticising “unjustified conclusions” in an upcoming documentary, “SAS Death Squads Exposed: A British War Crime?”

British Armed Forces personnel have been put “at risk both in the field and in reputation” by BBC Panorama's episode about SAS operations in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defense (MOD) has said. MOD has put out a strong statement criticizing “unjustified conclusions” in an upcoming hour-long documentary, called SAS Death Squads Exposed: A British War Crime?

British Armed Forces personnel have been put “at risk both in the field and in reputation” by BBC Panorama's episode about SAS operations in Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defense (MOD) has said. MOD has put out a strong statement criticising “unjustified conclusions” in an upcoming hour-long documentary, called SAS Death Squads Exposed: A British War Crime?

It will focus on asking if some of the 'hundreds of people' killed on night raids by Special Forces in Afghanistan were, in fact, executions. The BBC documentary accuses the SAS of executing detainees and murdering unarmed people in Afghanistan.

It claims to have found one unit killed 54 people in suspicious circumstances, and that senior officers did not disclose evidence to the military police.

“We believe that BBC Panorama's episode about SAS operations in Afghanistan, scheduled for broadcast Tuesday 12 July 2022, jumps to unjustified conclusions from allegations that have already been fully investigated.”

The MOD has said it “provided a detailed and comprehensive statement to Panorama, highlighting unequivocally how two Service Police operations carried out an extensive and independent investigation into allegations about the conduct of UK forces in Afghanistan”.

“Neither investigation found sufficient evidence to prosecute,” said the MOD. “Insinuating otherwise is irresponsible, incorrect and puts our brave Armed Forces personnel at risk both in the field and in reputation,” it added.

The MOD concluded its statement by reiterating that there would be “no obstruction” to considering any new evidence.

“The Ministry of Defense, of course, stands open to considering any new evidence, there would be no obstruction.

”We will always investigate allegations to the full, but our independent police and prosecutors can only act on the evidence before them,” the MOD said.

The Special Air Service (SAS) is a well-known, yet secretive, organization. There is a careful balance maintained, with the SAS recruiting high-caliber applicants from across the British military (although principally from the Army, and in particular the Paras) and its missions being of intense interest to the media.

However, the exact details of the operations, and those who perform them, do not usually become public until years later, if at all.

SAS personnel are highly trained and renowned for their skills in covert surveillance, close-combat fighting and hostage rescue.

The SAS was created during the Second World War when small bands of soldiers were dropped behind enemy lines in North Africa and Europe.