Reported by BBC, UK Special Forces officers seem to have repudiated an application from a former Afghan commando referred to them for sponsorship. This comes unexpectedly given the Afghan units were known to have fought alongside the Special Air Service (SAS) and Special Boat Service (SBS) against the Taliban.
The UK MoD had initially refuted the blanket policy to reject members of the units – known as the Triples.
The unit Triples were named as such because their designations were CF 333 and ATF 444 – were set up, trained, and paid by UK Special Forces and supported the SAS and SBS on operations in Afghanistan. After the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, the Triples anticipated to face retaliated from the Taliban and as result were entitled to apply for resettlement to the UK.
The refusal of their applications has become a controversy as it happened at the same time, when a public inquiry in the UK was investigating allegations on the British Special Forces for war crimes committed on operations in Afghanistan where the Triples were present.
It is ascertained that as a process of inquiry, witnesses in UK can be compelled to provide information. However, it does not apply to the non-UK nationals who are overseas. In such a case, former members of the Triples could be pushed by the inquiry to provide potentially significant evidence. This can be foreseen as the reason for rejecting applications coming from the Triples.
BBC further stated that in 2024, UK Special Forces command had been given veto power over their resettlement applications and denied them asylum in England.
The former Defence Minister Andrew Murrison later told the House of Commons that the government had misled parliament in its denials.
Earlier this year, the confirmation of more than 2,000 rejections emerged in court hearings which was brought by a former member of the Triples.
According to BBC, the documents disclosed in court revealed that the MoD was denying the presence of the veto and was aware of every rejection decision made by UK Special Forces.
Mike Martin MP, a member of the defence select committee and former British Army officer who served in Afghanistan, referred to the matter as “extremely concerning”.
Martin further added “There is the appearance that UK Special Forces blocked the Afghan special forces applications because they were witnesses to the alleged UK war crimes currently being investigated in the Afghan inquiry”.
Johnny Mercer, the former Conservative MP for Plymouth Moor View, who served alongside the SBS in Afghanistan, also said to have spoken to former members of the Triples and heard “horrific” accounts of murders by UK Special Forces.
If is reported that the MoD initiated a review in 2024 of all 2,022 resettlement applications referred to and rejected by UK Special Forces.
Since the instalment of Taliban government, the Taliban launched a witch hunt to find, torture and kill anyone associated with the previous Ghani government or who the Taliban assumed as a threat. Due to these circumstances, many Afghan commandoes such as those from the Triples are in hiding to evade capture without being able to seek representation or pro-actively contact the MoD for resettlement in UK. As a result, several have met their fate and have either perished or have reportedly been beaten or tortured by the Taliban when captured alive. In some cases, even though the decisions were overturned by the MoD, the verdict was late for some who couldn’t evade being captured by the Taliban.
A former officer of Triples said that the Afghan commandos worked alongside British Special Forces “like brothers” and felt “betrayed” by the rejections. He added that if the Special Forces made the rejections then the reasons for rejections should have been stated.
The MoD is currently facing a legal debacle with regards to the review, including the decision not to inform applicants whether their case is being reviewed or disclose the criteria used to select those in scope.
The legal challenge was initiated by a former senior member of the Triples who is now in the UK, on behalf of commandos still in Afghanistan.
Dan Carey, a partner at the law firm Deighton Pierce Glynn, representing the former Triples officer stated “Our client’s focus is on his soldiers left behind in Afghanistan, some of whom have been killed while they wait for these heavily delayed protection decisions”.
He further added, “As things stand they have a right to request a reassessment of a decision they haven’t even been told about. And there are others who think they are part of the Triples Review when the secret criteria would tell them that their cases aren’t even being looked at.”
A spokesperson for the MoD also stated that after 2014 the UK’s role “evolved from combat operations to primarily training, advising and assisting CF 333, who were under the command of the Afghan Ministry of Interior”. However, this was contrary to the statements made by the officers who served with UK Special Forces. They stated that the Triples continued to assist with British-led operations post 2014.
“Saying the Triples didn’t support UK Special Forces operations after 2014 isn’t true at all,” said former officer who served with UKSF.
“We had a squadron of CF 333 with us. We worked closely together. These were NATO targets, UK planned operations,” he said.
As the investigations continues, the UK government may have to answer some difficult questions whether the rejections made were on basis of security concerns or an effort to conceal some unpleasant realities about military conduct in Afghanistan.
