Discovery of 97 million files related to SAS inquiry 'regrettable', MoD says

The discovery of 97 million documents more than three years into an inquiry investigating allegations that UK special forces committed war crimes in Afghanistan was a "regrettable failure", the Ministry of Defence has said.

The admission comes after the inquiry's chair, Lord Justice Haddon-Cave, called the discovery "troubling" and "extraordinary news".

The independent inquiry was established in 2022 to investigate alleged executions by members of the Special Air Service between 2010 and 2013, during so-called night raids targeting the Taliban. It has yet to produce any findings.

MoD lawyers were called to a hearing on Friday to explain why the documents from the period in question were not found sooner.

Haddon-Cave said he had taken the "exceptional step" of calling the hearing because of the disclosure and the "somewhat casual way" the MoD had informed his team.

Steven Gray KC, representing the MoD, said the ministry "apologises that it fell short".

The "failure was one of communication, not application", he said, adding that the ministry was working hard to search through documents across multiple IT systems and classifications at "huge expense".

Gray added that the department was taking steps to avoid any similar revelations happening in the future.

Lawyers acting for the bereaved families said it was "staggering" the documents came to light at such a late stage in the inquiry's work.

Within the new files, the MoD says it has identified thousands of potentially relevant documents, including images that appear to have been taken during a number of special forces operations under investigation by the inquiry.

However, it stressed that much of the material found would be unrelated to the inquiry's terms of reference.

The Independent Inquiry relating to Afghanistan (IIA) told the BBC it was yet to receive any of the new material.

SAS troops carried out night-time arrest raids across Afghanistan during the conflict there, called Deliberate Detention Operations (DDOs), which were meant to target Taliban commanders and bombmakers, and collect material that could provide further intelligence about insurgent networks.

Following a night raid, members of the SAS and their support staff took photos of anyone killed, and collected mobile phones and other devices for intelligence purposes.

Forensic experts are examining these images to see whether the SAS's account of what took place during the operations fits with the ballistic evidence visible in the photographs.

The inquiry follows years of reporting by BBC Panorama, which revealed evidence that the SAS deliberately killed people who posed no threat, including children and handcuffed detainees during raids.

It has already heard evidence from senior UK military personnel who have said they believed the SAS carried out extrajudicial killings of Afghan civilians.

It has also heard concerns about the secrecy under which the SAS operated and that previous investigations into the allegations were ended prematurely.

Edward Craven KC, acting on behalf of the bereaved families, echoed the chair's comments on the newly discovered documents, saying the disclosure represented yet another example of the MoD frustrating the justice process.

Craven said that what mattered most to the bereaved families was getting the truth about the deaths of their loved ones.

Haddon-Cave said it was crucial that "any material of real relevance is quickly identified and disclosed", adding that he intended to call another hearing next month to question the MoD on its progress.

The MoD said it was fully committed to supporting the inquiry and that it regretted that it was "not as prompt or consistent as it should have been" in disclosing the documents.

Set up by the then-Defence Secretary Ben Wallace following the publication of the evidence by the BBC in 2022, the IIA has come under criticism over delays and mounting costs.

It had stated that it would provide an interim or final report 12-18 months after it was established in 2022. After almost four years, it has yet to publish any findings.

The BBC revealed earlier this month that it has already cost the public purse £58m.

Around half of that cost is understood to have been money spent by the MoD and the wider government in responding to the inquiry, including lawyers representing former SAS officers and senior military figures.

Public inquiries are rarely quick or cheap. The inquiry into the fire at Grenfell Tower, which claimed 72 lives and was found to be entirely avoidable, took more than seven years to complete and cost more than £170m.

Haddon-Cave said he had set a deadline to hear all evidence by 30 April 2027 and that he was seeking assurances that the new discovery would not delay the work of the inquiry further.

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