THERE were demands for an independent inquiry today following the exposure of a catalogue of unlawful killings by British special forces in Afghanistan.

An investigation by BBC television’s Panorama programme uncovered 54 suspicious killings of unarmed men and detainees by one Special Air Services (SAS) unit during a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan in 2010-11.

Individuals who served on the tour told the BBC that they had witnessed SAS soldiers murder unarmed people during night raids, as well as planting “drop weapons” at the scene of the crime to make the killing appear justified. 

Based on official military files, the BBC said there was a pattern of “strikingly similar reports” of “kill/capture” missions, in which detained Afghan men were shot dead by elite soldiers on night raids.

This prompted one senior officer to express concern at the time that there was a “deliberate policy” of unlawful killing during operations, according to internal emails. 

The investigation also revealed that Royal Military Police (RMP) inquiries into the deaths were blocked and the murders covered up. 

Stop the War convener Lindsay German called for the “horrific” revelations to be investigated. 

“We have had 20 years of lies about Afghanistan, not least that it was a humanitarian intervention,” she said. 

“These killings were war crimes and were covered up. There should be trials of those responsible, including those in government and military who knew about this.”

Pacifist network the Peace Pledge Union said that the armed forces should lose the power to police themselves, adding that any investigation must be carried out by people from outside the military if it is not to be compromised.

Campaigns manager Symon Hill said: “The credible body of evidence gathered by Panorama over four years of research cannot be easily dismissed.

“This cannot be written off as a case of a few ‘rotten apples.’ It involves evidence that people at the highest levels of the military deliberately blocked investigations.

“How much longer must we wait before military leaders are held to account?”

The Ministry of Defence accused the BBC of engaging in “irresponsible journalism,” claiming to believe the Panorama programme “jumps to unjustified conclusions from allegations that have already been fully investigated.” 

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