Australia establishes Afghanistan war crimes prosecutor after years of whistle-blower reports

Inspector-General identified more than 50 incidents, most relating to the unlawful killings of ‘persons who were non-combatants’

Reports include troops killing a six-year-old child in a raid, a dead foe’s hand being severed and a prisoner being shot dead to save space in a helicopter

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After the September 11 terror attacks more than 26,000 Australian uniformed personnel were sent to Afghanistan to fight alongside US and allied forces against the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other Islamist groups. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:52pm, 12 Nov 2020Updated: 9:22pm, 12 Nov 2020

Australia on Thursday moved to prosecute alleged war crimes by its special forces deployed in Afghanistan, years after harrowing reports emerged of civilians and prisoners being killed.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison – citing allegations of “serious and possibly criminal misconduct” – appointed a special investigator, a move to forestall any prosecution at the International Criminal Court.

After the September 11 terror attacks more than 26,000 Australian uniformed personnel were sent to Afghanistan to fight alongside US and allied forces against the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other Islamist groups.

Australian combat troops left the country in 2013, but since then a series of often brutal accounts have emerged about the conduct of Australia’s elite special forces units.

They range from reports of troops killing a six-year-old child in a house raid, to a dead foe’s hand being severed, to a prisoner being shot dead to save space in a helicopter.

For years the government had tried to suppress whistle-blower reports of the alleged wrongdoing, with police even moving to investigate reporters involved in bringing those accounts to the public.