bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

One of Australia’s most-decorated soldiers was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly murdering unarmed prisoners while serving in Afghanistan, police and local media said following a sweeping war crimes investigation.
The Australian Federal Police said they arrested a 47-year-old former Australian soldier, who was widely named in local media as Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith.
Federal police commissioner Krissy Barrett said the soldier had been linked to a string of murders while serving in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.
“The victims were not taking part in hostilities at the time of their alleged murder in Afghanistan,” she told reporters.
The victims were not taking part in hostilities at the time of their alleged murder
Police commissioner Krissy Barrett
“It will be alleged the victims were shot by the accused, or shot by subordinate members acting on the orders of the accused.”
He would be charged with five counts of “war crime – murder”, she said.
A former member of the Special Air Service Regiment, Roberts-Smith was once lauded as Australia’s most distinguished living war hero.
But his reputation took a major hit in 2018, when a series of newspaper reports first linked him to the murder of unarmed Afghan prisoners by Australian troops.

Those reports would eventually trigger an ongoing police investigation into alleged war crimes carried out by Australian soldiers.
Roberts-Smith has maintained his innocence throughout, launching a multimillion-dollar legal suit against the newspapers that first reported on the allegations.
Highest military honour
Roberts-Smith won the Victoria Cross – Australia’s highest military honour – for “conspicuous gallantry” in Afghanistan while on the hunt for a senior Taliban commander.
He met Queen Elizabeth II and his image was hung in the hallowed halls of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
But after painstaking reporting, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald alleged his public persona masked a pattern of criminal and immoral behaviour.
The papers alleged Roberts-Smith had kicked an unarmed Afghan civilian off a cliff and ordered subordinates to shoot him.

He was also said to have taken part in the machine-gunning of a man with a prosthetic leg, later using the limb as a drinking vessel with comrades.
Australia deployed 39,000 troops to Afghanistan over two decades as part of US and Nato-led operations against the Taliban and other militant groups.
As Australian veterans returned home, their actions have come into sharp legal focus.
A 2020 military investigation found special forces personnel “unlawfully killed” 39 Afghan civilians and prisoners, revealing allegations of summary executions, body count competitions and torture by Australian forces.
Under growing pressure, the government appointed a special investigator to look into whether current and former soldiers should face criminal charges.


Hong Kong stocks jump as risk appetite returns after US and Iran agree on ceasefire

What is the US telling Pacific allies by moving missiles to use in the Iran war?

Failed bus cuts ‘tip of iceberg’ as fuel costs soar, Hong Kong lawmakers warn

Most in Asean prefer China over US as partner in poll, Trump cited as biggest concern

Australia

Decorated Australian soldier faces 5 murder charges in Afghan war crime probe

Former member of Australia’s elite Special Air Service regiment Ben Roberts-Smith leaves the Federal Court in Sydney on  May 1, 2025 .Photo: AFP

Ben Roberts-Smith meets Queen Elizabeth II in Buckingham Palace on November 15, 2011. Photo: Reuters

An Australian Army Chinook helicopter flies over soldiers during Exercise Talisman Sabre at Shoalwater Bay Training Area in northern Queensland on March 26, 2023. Photo: Australian Defence Force/AFP

Man extradited from Singapore to New Zealand faces rape, home invasion charges

Zhang Xuesong, who is accused of raping and strangling a woman during a violent home invasion, pleaded not guilty in the Auckland High Court. Photo: Shutterstock


Zhang Xuesong faces multiple charges including sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, indecent assault, aggravated burglary, strangulation, assault with a weapon and sexual violation by rape. Photo: Shutterstock

Australian police officer’s ‘perverts’ remark against Indian driver sparks outrage

Police officers patrol the Valley Mall in Brisbane. Photo: AFP

Members of the local Indian community in Sydney listen to a speech by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an event in the city in 2023. Photo: AFP

Bali rocked by spate of murder cases – is Indonesian island more dangerous now?

Igor Komarov, a 28-year-old Ukrainian, was kidnapped and later found dead in a suspected murder in Bali in February. Photo: YouTube

Tourists walk in a shopping area in Seminyak, Bali. The number of visitors to the Indonesian island continued to rise last year. Photo: EPA

Australian suspect Paea I Middlemore Tupou, one of three men accused of murder over the shooting of Australian citizens, is escorted back to prison after being questioned by prosecutors in Bali in October. Photo: AFP

In Asia-Pacific, the real maritime contest is over satellite surveillance

A J-15 fighter jet from the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong making an unusual approach to a Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force P-3C patrol aircraft conducting surveillance above the Pacific Ocean on June 8, 2025. Photo: Handout /Japan’s Ministry of Defence / AFP

Will Japan follow Australia’s lead and ban children from social media?

A high school girl uses her smartphone in Tokyo, Japan. Photo: AFP

Junior high school students in Japan. A new panel is examining how easily teenagers can access harmful online content and will issue recommendations on restrictions if any. Photo: Shutterstock

Australia’s Social Media Minimum Age law prohibits under-16s from the most popular sites, including Instagram, X and YouTube. Photo: dpa

News

Asia

Australasia

Roberts-Smith reportedly kicked an unarmed Afghan civilian off a cliff and drank out of a prosthetic leg of a man who was gunned down


Roberts-Smith reportedly kicked an unarmed Afghan civilian off a cliff and drank out of a prosthetic leg of a man who was gunned down.


Crime

War in Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Decorated Australian soldier faces 5 murder charges in Afghan war crime probe

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Roberts-Smith reportedly kicked an unarmed Afghan civilian off a cliff and drank out of a prosthetic leg of a man who was gunned down

Roberts-Smith reportedly kicked an unarmed Afghan civilian off a cliff and drank out of a prosthetic leg of a man who was gunned down