A former Australian Army Special Forces officer facing charges of war crimes in Afghanistan was arrested today as part of a criminal investigation into a series of such crimes allegedly committed by the Australian military in the Southeast Asian nation.

41-year-old war veteran is at risklife imprisonment if convicted The Australian Federal Police said they had committed a war crime.

His arrest was announced more than two years after the start of an internal investigation which found that 39 civilians and prisoners had been “illegally killed” by members of the Australian ED.

The police clarified that the ongoing investigations concern war crimes allegedly committed between 2005 and 2016 in Afghanistan.

accusations

According to the Australian public broadcaster ABC, the charges against the former soldier are related to the 2012 killing of an Afghan civilian in the central province of Uruzgan.

The veteran is expected to appear in New South Wales court later in the day.

Investigations since 2020 have uncovered allegations of summary executions, heinous “competitions” and torture by Australian military personnel. The police were recommended to open criminal cases against 19 former special forces soldiers.

The revelations marked a turning point for a country where the military has historically been highly respected. Efforts were made by the leadership of the armed forces to downplay allegations of alleged crimes.

In addition, the police investigated the journalists who investigated these cases.

Since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, more than 39,000 Australian troops have been deployed to Afghanistan to fight alongside the Americans and their allies against the Taliban, al-Qaeda and other Islamist groups. The loss of the Australian army amounted to 41 people.

Source: APE-MPE, AFP, Reuters.