British military wants to obscure truth about its war crimes in Afghanistan: Journalist

British military commanders want people to think of the military as noble who go around the world to help people, which is a "huge lie and a complete myth" aimed at obscuring the savagery they committed in Afghanistan, according to a commentator.

Robert Fantina, an author, journalist and human right activist, made the comments on Press TV's Spotlight program aired Tuesday.  

Fantina believes that the British commanders are trying to hide the reality of the crimes committed by the forces under their command, even though they know they won't be held accountable in the courts for the crimes they commit.

“As there's no accountability for militants and it leaves the military free reign to commit whatever crimes it wants”, Fantina said.

BBC reported earlier this year that the British elite Special Air Service (SAS) killed Afghan civilians "in cold blood".

The British military recently announced it would launch an inquiry into reports that its special forces carried out a series of extrajudicial killings in Afghanistan, following widespread outcry across the world.

UK defense minister Andrew Murrison said the Afghanistan inquiry, which is to start in early 2023, will focus on unlawful killings by the British Special Forces during deliberate detention operations in Afghanistan from mid-2010 to mid-2013.

It will also examine the “adequacy of subsequent investigations” by the UK's Ministry of Defense into allegations of wrongdoing, including murder.

“It's not a flaw in the system; the system is working the way the governments want it to work. They want to avoid and evade the timeline investigation, hoping that people forget the stories and then they can sweep these atrocities under the rug and commit them again,” Fantina said, calling the probe a "show".

The inquiry follows reports that 54 Afghans were killed in suspicious circumstances by one SAS unit in Helmand province between 2010 and 2011, and accusations that this amounted to war crimes.

Tessa Gregory from the UK law firm which is representing the families of the deceased said an inquiry should have been launched years ago.

“The allegations of extrajudicial killings and cover-up are of such gravity, and the concerns expressed contemporaneously within the British and Afghan army and by a reputable international organization working on the ground in Afghanistan were so serious and so widespread, that an inquiry should have been instituted by the government years ago,” she said.

The families of eight people, including three young boys, reportedly murdered by British Special Forces in two separate operations during night raids in Afghanistan in 2011 and 2012 welcomed the inquiry, saying they waited 10 years for justice.

Fra Hughes, a journalist, author and activist, told Press TV that inhumane behavior exhibited by UK soldiers in the country's prisons is a sign of “Western imperialism”.

“The UK government does not want the British people to know what's being done in their name by their army and by their special Earth services,” Hughes said.

During the two-decade foreign invasion and occupation, Afghanistan witnessed horrendous war crimes by NATO troops. More and more facts are emerging regarding unlawful killings and gross violations by foreign forces on Afghan soil.

The US war on Afghanistan has left many Afghans in great suffering. People here are calling for accountability and justice for years of gross violation by the NATO troops.

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