Five members of the SAS have been arrested by British military police on suspicion of allegedly committing war crimes while on operations in Syria.
The Ministry of Defence said it would not comment directly on the investigation but defence sources indicated that reports of the arrests, which had been circulating in military circles for some time, were accurate.
An MoD spokesperson said: “We hold our personnel to the highest standards and any allegations of wrongdoing are taken seriously. Where appropriate, any criminal allegations are referred to the service police for investigation.”
The case against the five revolves around the alleged murder of a suspected jihadist in Syria who was killed on operations two years ago. Case files recommending prosecution of murder charges have been sent by service police to the Service Prosecuting Authority, the military equivalent of the CPS.
It is alleged the five used excessive force in the incident, although the soldiers involved are understood to deny this, arguing they believed the dead man posed a legitimate threat, so justifying his killing.
The SAS has been actively deployed in Syria for the past decade, engaged covertly in the fight against Islamic State and supporting the Syrian Democratic Forces, Kurdish allies of the west based in the north-east of the country.
An SAS soldier, Matt Tonroe, was killed by friendly fire in 2018 alongside the US commando Jonathan Dunbar while on a joint operation against IS in Manbij, northern Syria. They were killed when an explosive carried by a colleague detonated.
It is not certain that any of the arrests will result in a prosecution, and war crimes convictions of British soldiers are exceptionally rare. But the arrests come at a time when the activities of the SAS in Afghanistan are separately coming under scrutiny in a public inquiry examining claims that 80 Afghans were summarily killed by the unit.
The identity of the accused soldiers is not publicly known, and it is likely their anonymity will be preserved if there are any court martial proceedings. No members of the SAS have been identified in the Afghanistan public inquiry.
Based in Hereford, the SAS typically operates in absolute secrecy and is ready to conduct risky missions behind the lines and in locations where the UK does not formally acknowledge a military presence.
Government ministers and officials decline to comment on its activities, even off the record, a practice introduced from the 1980s. Its most senior officer, the director of special forces, is only accountable to the defence secretary and the prime minister.
Amnesty International said allegations of war crimes should be fully investigated. “As a matter of principle, it’s vital that all members of the UK’s armed forces are fully answerable before the law,” said Kristyan Benedict, a crisis response manager with the human rights group.
