November 19, reported that on the 19th local time, the Australian Minister of Defense announced that his special forces soldiers had illegally killed 39 people, including civilians, in Afghanistan.
Earlier, there were reports that the Australian army committed “war crimes” during missions in Afghanistan, including killing civilians and prisoners. Since 2016, Australia has launched investigations into the conduct of its special forces from 2005 to 2016.
According to Reuters, after more than four years of investigation, the Australian Defence Force Commander Angus Campbell said on November 19, 2020 that the investigation report found evidence that 25 Australian Special Forces soldiers were suspected of committing 23 incidents. A total of 39 prisoners, farmers and other civilians were killed.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported that 25 current or former members of the Australian Defense Force were involved in these serious crimes. They either committed these crimes, or at least were “accomplices” in these incidents.
The investigation also stated that the patrol commander often asked lower-level soldiers to shoot at the prisoners, thus starting his first “shooting”. This behavior is called “bleeding.”
The investigation also found that there is evidence that some Australian troops in Afghanistan carry “thrown objects,” such as weapons and grenades that have not been approved by the Australian Defence Force. These objects will be placed next to the remains of Afghan civilians for investigation of related incidents. Show that they are all “legitimate targets.”
The officer who participated in the investigation, Paul Brereton, said that some soldiers “have not received good guidance” and that “special forces combatants should be proud of being exemplary professional soldiers, not’warrior heroes’.”
Brileyton also pointed out that investigators had difficulty obtaining information from the troops during the investigation process, and that senior military officers were “disappointed by the blatant deception of those who knew the truth, and the (often) misleading resistance to superior inquiry and investigation.” “.
According to reports, this investigation interviewed 423 witnesses and the investigators carefully studied more than 20,000 documents and more than 25,000 images.
The investigation report suggests that some incidents should be submitted to the Australian Federal Police for criminal investigation. In addition, the Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF) believes that the Australian Federal Government should pay compensation to the families of the Afghan victims before the court makes a judgment on the incident.
