Inquiry Into SAS Killings Finds 97 Million Undisclosed MoD Files
The chairman of the inquiry into alleged unlawful killings by British special forces in Afghanistan called the discovery of some 97 million previously undisclosed Ministry of Defence documents “troubling” and “extraordinary news”, taking the exceptional step of convening a hearing on a Friday. Thousands of potentially relevant files have been identified, including images from operations under investigation. The ministry’s counsel said it “apologises that it fell short” and called the failure “one of communication, not application”.
The inquiry has now run for nearly four years, cost £58m and published no findings, with its evidence deadline set at April 2027 — and it has just been told the department under investigation was sitting on a document archive of almost a hundred million items. Whether that is obstruction or institutional chaos matters less, for now, than the consequence: every conclusion reached so far has to be re-tested against material nobody has read. Families of Afghan civilians who have waited years for findings are the ones who absorb the delay. A further hearing is set for next month. Watch whether the chairman moves the deadline, and whether anyone at the ministry is held responsible for a disclosure failure on this scale.