The first public release of photographs from two 2011 SAS operations in Helmand has moved the Afghanistan special-forces inquiry from competing accounts towards evidence that can be forensically tested. That matters because the images, according to the inquiry’s lead barrister, may challenge how the deaths were described at the time.
The inquiry heard that the photographs show deceased people in beds, with multiple apparent head wounds. Oliver Glasgow KC said the images could be evidence of possible war crimes and warranted expert interrogation. The inquiry is examining allegations that SAS personnel killed unarmed civilians and detainees during night raids between 2010 and 2013, and planted weapons to conceal the killings. Those remain allegations under examination, not findings against named individuals.
The material is significant less because photographs settle the case on their own than because they may be tested against operational accounts, physical evidence and witness evidence. Glasgow said further analysis might establish whether people were shot while asleep. The BBC reported that military police investigators had sought further testing at the time, but it was not carried out; Lt Col John Harvey, who led a murder investigation, told the inquiry that the images “didn’t look right”.
There is a strong reason for caution alongside the gravity of the evidence. A photograph can raise acute questions about position, trajectory and sequence, but expert forensic work is needed to establish what it can reliably show. The inquiry is now subjecting the images to that analysis.
Still, releasing the photographs is a consequential development. Where accounts of military force involve deaths in private homes during night raids, records that can be independently examined are essential. The inquiry’s task is to determine whether the evidence supports the allegations and whether earlier investigations responded adequately to the warning signs before them.
Sources
- BBC UK · Source date: 2026-11-11
Independent editorial content. WUA is not affiliated with any political party. 2026-11-11