UK special forces had a ‘golden pass’ to carry out killings in Afghanistan, an inquest hears.

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UK special forces fighting in Afghanistan had a “golden pass” that allowed them to escape execution and heard public inquiries into alleged war criminals as they operated under a “code of silence” that prevented soldiers from speaking.

The allegations were included in the documents released Wednesday to the Afghanistan inquiry, which are part of a general release of closed-door hearings with seven UK special forces soldiers.

The investigation It is investigating allegations of killings by UK special forces during night raids against the Taliban between 2010 and 2013.

One officer told the inquiry that UK special forces appeared to have a “golden pass to get away with murder”.

The inquiry’s counsel, Oliver Glasgow, said the officer replied, “Yes,” if the mission reports could be read as suggesting that the UK’s special forces “could be carrying out extra judicial killings”.

Another officer said soldiers who tried to expose suspected wrongdoing received “protection” from their peers, and were told it was “not your place to ask”.

“I believe the UKSF operates a code of silence or omerta, which prevents people from speaking out,” he said. “I am concerned about my personal safety in making this statement.”

The United Kingdom’s special forces, the Special Air Service and the Special Boat Service, are steadfast in the secrecy of their operations. In practice, political control is exercised by a few – usually the Minister of Defense and the Prime Minister.

The document, released to the public on Wednesday, summarizes their testimony at a closed hearing last year, in which the investigative team and representatives of the Defense Ministry were allowed to attend. The names of the witnesses have been withheld.

But hundreds of leaked documents reveal a rare picture – sometimes graphic – of the tactics used by some special forces units to hunt down the Taliban.

One unit “adopted a policy of target killing of all fighting age men”, the inquest heard. Some units may have decided to “take the law into their own hands” rather than release suspected Taliban militants.

“It was logical that frustration with the inadequacy of detention procedures in Afghanistan would have led people to the conclusion that they should take the law into their own hands,” said one soldier.

Another officer said some special forces soldiers were “flat packed” about how they killed Afghans. They were also asked about weapons that are sometimes placed near corpses to make them look armed when killed – commonly referred to as “Mr Wolf”.

The inquiry counsel asked if Glasgow was a reference to a Hollywood movie Pulp fictionIn it, a character Mr. Wolf arrives at the scene of a murder and announces that he is there to “solve problems”.

“That’s right,” said the officer. I didn’t put two and two together.”