{"id":41969,"date":"2020-11-19T22:14:49","date_gmt":"2020-11-19T22:14:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/11\/19\/group-urges-more-probes-into-war-crimes-after-report-finds-australian-troops-unlawfully-killed-39-afghans\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:24:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:24:45","slug":"group-urges-more-probes-into-war-crimes-after-report-finds-australian-troops-unlawfully-killed-39-afghans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/flashpoints\/2020\/11\/19\/group-urges-more-probes-into-war-crimes-after-report-finds-australian-troops-unlawfully-killed-39-afghans\/","title":{"rendered":"Group urges more probes into war crimes after report finds Australian troops unlawfully killed 39 Afghans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ISLAMABAD \u2014 A leading international human rights group and an Afghan envoy on Thursday urged nations whose militaries have served as part of the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan \u2014 including America and Britain <\/a>\u2014 to follow Australia\u2019s example and probe their own soldiers\u2019 conduct in the 19-year war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The appeal came after Australia\u2019s public release earlier in the day of a shocking report alleging unlawful killings by elite Australian troops in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report \u2014 the result of a four-year investigation \u2014 found evidence that some among Australia\u2019s elite troops summarily killed 39 Afghan prisoners, farmers and civilians. Some of the crimes, which began in 2009, with most occurring in 2012 and 2013, could rise to the level of war crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A particularly disturbing practice noted in the report was the so-called \u201cblooding,\u201d where new soldiers to the battlefield were encouraged to kill an Afghan to get a first \u201ckill.\u201d It also alleges that items such a gun or a cell phone were placed on the slain victim to claim he was an insurgent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to understand that the elite Australian special forces were not alone in committing these atrocities,\u201d said Patricia Gossman, senior researcher on Afghanistan for Human Rights Watch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTheir soldiers have even said it was widely known that U.K. and U.S. special forces had carried out similar crimes,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was part of a sick culture that essentially treated Afghans living in these contested areas as if they were all dangerous criminals \u2014 even the children \u2014 or simply as not human.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t