British elite regiments committed atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan for over a decade, new eyewitness accounts cited by the BBC reveal.
Allegations implicate both the British Army’s Special Air Service (SAS) and Royal Navy's elite Special Boat Service (SBS).
Crimes Included:
Cold-blooded executions of unarmed men, and even children, shot while handcuffed.
Killings during night raids, with civilians murdered in their sleep.
Cover-ups, with weapons planted on bodies, and the restraints removed to fake self-defense.
Execution of detainees as "standard operating procedure,” with junior soldiers ordered to kill by higher-ups.
Finishing off the wounded.
"They'd search someone, handcuff them, then shoot them," before cutting off the plastic handcuffs used to restrain people and "planting a pistol" by the body, one eyewitness said.
In this image taken from video, a British soldier directs an Iraqi to kneel, while an RAF Puma helicopter lands, Thursday, April 3, 2003, during patrols around Nasiriyah, Iraq.
© AP Photo
Ignored Warnings:
Then-Afghan President Hamid Karzai reportedly personally warned then-UK Prime Minister David Cameron about civilian killings carried out by British special forces.