On October 12, 2026, Lord Justice Haddon-Cave, who chairs the Independent Inquiry relating to Afghanistan, told a public hearing that a high proportion of Special Air Service (SAS) personnel approached by the inquiry had said they would rely on their privilege against self-incrimination and refuse to answer questions. The inquiry, launched in 2023, is examining allegations of extrajudicial killings by British special forces in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013. It is also looking at claims that unlawful activity was covered up and that Royal Military Police (RMP) investigations were inadequate. The judge said notices had been sent to SAS personnel about more than 50 cases of alleged summary killings.
The inquiry has its roots in a specific set of allegations. Ministers announced it after 54 cases of Afghans killed by one SAS unit in Helmand Province between 2010 and 2011 were flagged as suspicious and possible war crimes. The judge has since widened the period to 2010 to 2013, saying it captures the allegations now being made. At the centre are deliberate detention operations (DDOs), and the inquiry has sent written requests for information, known as rule 9 requests, to numerous SAS operators linked to them. It has the power to compel witnesses and is seeking evidence from Afghan families whose relatives died in detention. It has also heard extensive evidence about concerns raised by UK special forces personnel and others about how those operations were conducted.
The most striking new detail is documentary. Haddon-Cave said the inquiry had obtained about 10,000 high-resolution photographs taken during the DDOs, which do not appear to have formed part of earlier RMP investigations. That raises fresh questions about how complete the previous inquiries were. But photographs are evidence, not conclusions, and the inquiry has not said what they show.
It is important to be careful about what the refusals mean. The privilege against self-incrimination is a legal right, and relying on it is not an admission and does not establish guilt, and the judge has not suggested otherwise. A public inquiry also cannot determine criminal or civil liability, though what it finds can lead to further action. Military Watch acknowledges that these remain allegations under investigation rather than findings against individuals, but its headline refers to “severe war crimes”, which goes further than anything the inquiry has said. The practical effect of the refusals is that there will be fewer direct accounts from those involved, which puts more weight on documents, photographs and the testimony of others.
Military Watch also compares the case with Australia, and the comparison is relevant but needs care. The Brereton inquiry, whose report was published in 2020, found credible information that Australian special forces had unlawfully killed 39 people in 23 incidents, and described practices such as “blooding” new soldiers and planting weapons on the dead. That shows an official investigation can find serious wrongdoing, but it was a separate inquiry on different facts, and it tells us nothing about what the British inquiry will conclude. Treating one as a preview of the other would be prejudging the outcome.
Ultimately, the story is about accountability and whether the system can establish what happened. Three things will show how it develops: the testimony of Afghan families at upcoming hearings, what the 10,000 photographs reveal, and whether the inquiry’s eventual report makes findings or recommendations that lead to further action. Until then, the fair summary is that a judge-led inquiry has obtained significant new material, many of the people it wants to question are declining to speak, and no findings have been made.
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