Inquiry hears British special forces dropped Afghan prisoners from forklifts
An inquiry heard allegations that British special forces dropped Afghan prisoners from forklifts, raising serious concerns about the treatment of detainees.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
An inquiry into possible war crimes by British special forces in Afghanistan has heard allegations that troops dropped Afghan prisoners from forklifts. The allegations emerged from two witnesses who gave evidence in secret sessions of the public inquiry, with summaries of their testimony released by the chair.
The first witness said a soldier had told her that prisoners were often put onto forklifts, then driven around very fast before braking suddenly so that the prisoners would be flung off the vehicles. She said this happened in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and that the soldier was laughing and appeared to think it was fun. She was deeply disturbed that such behaviour involved the UK's most elite forces.
The second witness told the inquiry that every time he tried to raise concerns about this treatment, he was shut down. On one occasion he was called a "Taliban-loving apologist" for seeking answers. He also said he wanted to see video tapes of the killings but was denied access, even though he had the appropriate security clearance.
The inquiry is described as public, but much of the evidence is being heard in closed sessions, meaning the details released are summaries that cannot be independently verified. The Ministry of Defence has said it will reserve its full comment until after the inquiry has concluded.
These are allegations at this stage, but they are serious and relate to the conduct of UK special forces during operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The inquiry continues to hear evidence behind closed doors.
On screen
Stills are sampled automatically at 60-second intervals. Where shown, the still is the nearest available frame from the relevant broadcast segment and is included to show what was on screen during that part of the broadcast. A still may not correspond to the exact second of a quoted phrase.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | Sky News |
|---|---|
| A witness said he was silenced when raising concerns about the conduct of UK special forces. | |
| An inquiry heard allegations that UK troops dropped prisoners from forklifts in Afghanistan and Iraq. |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Sky News focused on the gravity of the allegations against elite forces, emphasising that they are unverified but serious. The report highlighted the secrecy of the inquiry and the disturbing nature of the witness accounts, including the soldier's laughter. The tone was cautious but clearly conveyed the shock value of the claims.
- “These are just allegations. I think it is important to state that, that at this time these are just allegations, but they are really serious allegations and they are against our most elite forces, the UK special forces.”
- “The first of them saying that a soldier had told her that prisoners were often put onto forklifts then driven around really fast, breaking suddenly so that essentially those prisoners would get flung off the vehicles.”
- “And at one point he was called a Taliban-loving apologist because he was trying to get answers, that he wanted to see tapes of these killings.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.