Australia police now probing army for war crimes in Afghanistan

Australian police have launched an investigation into possible war crimes by members of the Australian army in war-torn Afghanistan.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) announced the news in a statement on Thursday, saying that it had received a “referral” regarding the crimes back in June and had “accepted the matters for investigation.”

“As this investigation is ongoing, the AFP will not confirm or deny the specific incidents or the identity of those subject to the investigation,” an AFP spokesman said, without providing additional details, including on who had referred the probe to the federal law enforcement agency.

The investigation follows an inquiry led by New South Wales Supreme Court Judge Paul Brereton, who is helping the inspector-general of the Australian Defense Force (ADF) to investigate the actions of Australian Special Forces during some 12 years of presence in Afghanistan.

However, it was not clear whether the inspector-general or the ADF itself had referred the war crimes probe to the AFP.

“It is not appropriate for the AFP to provide further comment at this time,” the agency’s spokesman further said.

Three other inquiries, including the one being conducted by Brereton, have already been initiated into reports of abuses by Special Forces who served in Afghanistan as part of a US-led military coalition from 2001 to 2014.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported on Thursday that a separate classified Defense Department probe leaked to the press in June quoted testimony from Special Forces insiders saying some soldiers had engaged in the “unsanctioned and illegal application of violence on operations” in Afghanistan with “a disregard for human dignity.”

PressTV-'Australia committed war crimes in Afghanistan'

Australia's elite special forces are accused of committing war crimes in Afghanistan as the US command decides to intensify operations despite an unprecedented truce with Taliban.

Meanwhile, a report by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) said that Brereton’s inquiry, which began in 2016, was understood to have uncovered a number of incidents of possible unlawful killings by the Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.

His secretive and reportedly comprehensive probe into Australia’s elite troops, including the Special Air Services Regiment and Commando units, would consider possible breaches of the Geneva Convention, it added.

Australia, which is not a member of NATO, has had an active role in Afghanistan since the US, along with a number of its NATO allies, invaded the country in 2001. That war and occupation continues to this day, even as Australian combat troops are reportedly out.

The so-called war on terror removed a Taliban regime from power but has failed to stop militant activities in the country and restore security. The ongoing chaos has also paved the way for the Takfiri Daesh terror group to gain a foothold in Afghanistan’s east as well.

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