Author: Abu Raef
Colonialism (18th part)
Attack on Khanano Village in Musa Qala, Helmand
In another instance of war crimes, British army special forces martyred eight innocent people during an assault on a house in Khanano village in the Musa Qala district, located to the north of Helmand province. This incident occurred two days after the killing of defenseless individuals in Nad Ali district. During this attack, seven people were martyred in a guest house, while another person was later killed inside the main house.
The similarity between this attack and the previous one was strikingly high, which was surprising. It was noted that all individuals inside the guest house were martyred, despite a discrepancy where the number of Kalashnikov (AK47) weapons discovered was found to be fewer than the number of people killed, according to the Special Air Service.
As per the operational report from the Special Air Service, a supposed “insurgent” was shot and killed when special forces approached them. Four bodies were found inside the guest house, along with two armed men who were supposedly involved in the incident. The official narrative from the Special Air Service suggests that these individuals were shot and eliminated for being perceived as insurgents.
Subsequently, after the remaining residents of the house surrendered and were collected by the Special Air Service, another man was taken into the main building to aid in the search. This individual, however, allegedly pulled out a concealed handgun and aimed it at the soldiers, as per the Special Forces report. Consequently, he was also shot and killed.
However, insights from individuals within the special forces contradicted the reports by describing a series of events that seemed improbable. The BBC Investigative Service gathered information from British military police sources, who expressed concerns regarding the inconsistency between the pattern of bloodstains and other evidence within the scene and the Special Air Service’s account of the incident.
In subsequent emails, senior British special forces officials highlighted suspicions about the resemblance of the incident to previous operations where Afghan individuals, upon surrendering to the Special Air Service, were taken into a building and presented as armed threats. Supposedly, before they could pose a danger, they were shot.
The BBC investigative team visited the site of the alleged war crime by the Special Air Service and engaged with the families of the victims. Mohammad Dawood, one of the family members, affirmed that his two brothers, Mohammad Taher (aged 15) and Abdul Zaher (aged 25), were among the martyred individuals in addition to five others present in the guest house. The family staunchly refuted claims that any of the deceased individuals had possession of a weapon or posed a threat to the special air service.
According to Dawoud and his family, all seven men present in the guest house were martyred in the same room, contradicting the Special Air Service unit’s account that the initial individual shot was outside and had supposedly threatened with a Kalashnikov. The discordances presented in this report were also flagged by military police.
The report from the Special Air Service indicated that the four men within the house were killed by alleged “insurgents,” who were subsequently eliminated by the Special Air Service. However, the family’s testimony described how all the men had suffered fatal gunshot wounds, either in their heads or chests, similar to the Nadali attack—an uncommon occurrence during armed conflicts.
Moreover, the family dismissed the Special Air Service’s assertion that the “rebels” had fired standing behind the deceased individuals, pointing out that all bullet wounds faced the front of the bodies. They further reported that the bullets had passed through most bodies and implanted in the bed and floor below, mirroring a series of up-close, high-altitude assassinations purportedly carried out by the Special Air Service.
Dawood guided the investigative team through the guest house, wherein no signs of random or accidental shootings were evident, but there were visible bullet holes in the door and the rear wall. Subsequent to the guest house incident, the special air service directed everyone to the main building’s courtyard. Armed with a list of names, the invading soldiers summoned Ahmad shah, Dawood’s brother, indoors, where he was allegedly martyred upon the sound of a gunshot.
The family, deeply impacted by the tragedy that unfolded within their residence, maintained that the incident stemmed from a misidentification of identities.
Attack on a House in Sangin District of Helmand Province
As part of the continued atrocities committed by British forces across various regions of Afghanistan, an operation occurred in the Sangin district of Helmand province on March 12, 2011. This operation targeted a civilian family, resulting in the martyrdom of eight family members. The Special Air Service claimed that their soldiers had come under attack involving small arms and grenades.
However, upon the BBC investigative team’s interaction with the family, the latter refuted possessing any weapons in their home. They asserted that each of the martyred men had sustained five to six gunshot wounds, including injuries to their foreheads, mouths, and faces. Moreover, an identified bullet mark on the wall of the guest house suggested that one of the deceased individuals might have been lying down when shot.
Haji Siddiq Ullah shared that his son and nephew were handcuffed, taken to another room, and fatally shot. He emphasized the absence of firearms, grenades, machine guns, or any other weapons in the house, discrediting the claims made by the Special Air Service as an attempt to justify and conceal their violent actions through falsehoods.
