Iran Press/Asia: Email exchanges related to alleged execution-style killings by British special forces in Afghanistan have been shared with a UK court for an ongoing case, says UK media.
BBC Panorama investigated the killings a year ago.
The case of the murder of four members of a family in Helmand province by the British special forces, which is now on trial in the UK's high court, was brought by the members of the family who want a deep investigation into the incident.
The case is receiving new attention because of evidence- email exchanges--have been turned over to the UK court.
The BBC reported that "two senior officers from Special Forces met in a bar in Dorset to have a secret conversation. They feared some of the UK's most highly-trained troops had adopted a "deliberate policy" of illegally killing unarmed men."
After the conversation, the BBC says, "a briefing note believed to have been written by one of the most senior members of UK Special Forces was passed up the chain of command."
The message contained "clear warnings for the highest levels of Special Forces and concluded that these 'concerning' allegations merit 'deeper investigation' to 'at worst case put a stop to criminal behavior.'"
The documents were released to solicitors for the ongoing case at the High Court.
The man bringing the case is Saifullah Ghareb Yar, and he told the BBC on Saturday that four members of his family were innocent and were "assassinated" on February 16, 2011, by British special forces in the Nawa district of Helmand province.
The UK government said that the four members of Saifullah's family were killed in self-defense during the operation.
Gharib Yar says that at 1:00 o'clock in the morning while they were asleep, British special forces along with Afghan government forces raided their house in Nawa district of Helmand province.
Gharib Yar told the BBC that they were all shouting and that British and Afghan forces had apparently come to arrest key Taliban figures.
Gharib Yar says that after the firing ended and the forces had left, it was revealed that his father, two brothers, and his cousin had been killed by British special forces.
Now the case is in UK high court and the UK government said that the raid was conducted for self-defense.
“Our innocent people have been killed by foreign soldiers inside their homes, we want the international courts to address these cases and compensation must be paid for them,” said Attaullah Jan Afghan, Helmand provincial council head.
A commander of the Afghan government forces told the BBC that at that time the family of four members of the group had not fired a single shot at the British forces and the commander believed that the victims were innocent.
“When they [British forces] have committed a crime, then the issue can be investigated and the perpetrators must be brought to justice,” said Rouhullah Sakhizada, lawyer.
The BBC reports that Afghan government forces, despite the recurrence of such incidents, repeatedly refused to participate in such operations with British forces.
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