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Australia's top military official pledges changes after Afghan war crimes report

Sunday, 22 November 2020 6:13 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 22 November 2020 6:32 AM ]

Chief of the Australian Defense Force (ADF) General Angus Campbell delivers the findings from the Inspector-General of the Australian Defense Force Afghanistan Inquiry, in Canberra, on November 19, 2020. (Photo by AFP)

Australia's Defense Force Chief General Angus Campbell has acknowledged the “horror” that the country's troops had caused in Afghanistan, pledging comprehensive reforms.

“I want the ADF (Australia Defense Force) to acknowledge that this is something we've got to own because if we don't own it, we won't fix it and if we don't fix it, this horror may appear again and I just cannot accept that,” Campbell said on Sunday.

“I see layers of responsibility here,” he added. “I'm determined to see deep, comprehensive and enduring change where it is needed.”

The findings of a damning report by Major General Brereton published on Thursday confirmed that Australian troops murdered a multitude of innocent people in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.

The four-year investigation into Australian war crimes also unveiled many servicemen planted “throwdowns” such as weapons, radios and grenades not issued by the ADF next to the bodies of Afghan civilians to frame them as militants.

Brereton's report recommended that 19 soldiers be investigated by police for the “murder” of 39 prisoners and civilians, and the cruel treatment of others.

Australia admits troops involved in murder of unarmed Afghan civilians

Australia admits that its military forces unlawfully killed dozens of civilians and prisoners in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.

Brereton said that preparing the landmark report was a difficult task due to the culture of secrecy and cover-up in the military where middle commanders were often “frustrated by outright deceit by those who knew the truth and, not infrequently, misguided resistance to inquiries and investigations by their superiors.”

Australian authorities had spent years trying to gag whistle-blowers or dismiss reports of wrongdoings by the country's military personnel in Afghanistan.

The murder of innocent people, including children, in Afghanistan first came to public attention in 2017 when national broadcaster ABC published the “Afghan files,” which exposed the “deadly secrets” of Australian forces operating in the country.

After the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, Australian troops played an active role in the occupied country.

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