Afghan president voiced concern over civilians killed by SAS troops, inquiry told

Concerns about the number of Afghan civilians being killed by British special forces in the early part of the last decade prompted the country’s then president to make a “muscular” complaint to Nato commanders fighting the Taliban. Newly released evidence from a public inquiry into the deaths of up to 80 people during an SAS deployment also showed that Afghan partner military forces were no longer willing to work alongside the British by the spring of 2011. The statements are contained in redacted and summarised evidence of a special forces staff officer, known only as N1788, who had been responsible for reviewing tactics used in operations that led to civilians repeatedly being killed. “President Hamid Karzai was very ‘muscular’ in addressing the issue” of British detention operations “with Nato’s chain of command”, according to the summary of N1788’s two days of evidence, first given in the autumn of 2024. Around the same time, the evidence summary said, “everyone was aware that some of the Afghan partner units were being reluctant to go on operations” with the British special forces sub-unit, known only as SU1. This became “a major issue for campaigns” across the Nato-led forces operating in Afghanistan and emerged at the same time as the US president Barack Obama had increased the number of US troops in Afghanistan to try to deal with a growing Taliban insurgency. “It was a known issue and a big deal,” the summary of the evidence said. …