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War crime claims may stop work with US forces

The US government warned that allegations of war crimes against Australian soldiers in Afghanistan could prevent US forces from working with Australia’s Special Air Service Regiment, Australia’s defence force chief said yesterday. General Angus Campbell told a Senate committee that he received a letter from the US defence attache in Canberra in March 2021 suggesting the elite SAS may have been ‘‘tainted’’ by the allegations of war crimes in Afghanistan raised in an Australian war crime investigation report that was made public in 2020. The letter warned that the Brereton report, which detailed ‘‘credible information’’ that Australian soldiers had unlawfully killed 39 Afghan prisoners and civilians, could trigger a US law that prevents the country’s military working with units linked to ‘‘gross violations of human rights’’. Campbell said he did not believe he informed the defence minister at the time and had not informed the current minister. Police in March charged the first Australian veteran for an alleged killing in Afghanistan.

World

en-nz

2023-06-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-06-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://fairfaxmedia.pressreader.com/article/281925957395945

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