The Ministry of Defence has apologised after 97 million files were discovered more than three years into the independent inquiry examining allegations of unlawful killings by UK Special Forces in Afghanistan, with thousands of documents potentially relevant to its investigation.

A former civil servant who worked inside SAS headquarters has described a culture in which some soldiers behaved as though normal rules did not apply, while saying she was casually told of alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.

An inquiry examining allegations that British Special Forces unlawfully killed civilians in Afghanistan has cost the taxpayer £58 million, according to Ministry of Defence figures, as the process stretches towards its fourth year without published findings.

AOAV analysis finds a stark ideological divide in British media coverage of the Afghanistan Inquiry, with right-wing outlets far more likely to portray scrutiny of alleged SAS killings as a witch hunt, lawfare or a threat to national security.

Newly published evidence presented to the Afghanistan Inquiry contains allegations from multiple witnesses of prisoner abuse, intimidation and a culture of exceptionalism within UK Special Forces, although the Inquiry has yet to reach any findings.

N1788 told the Afghanistan Inquiry that Afghan partner forces became increasingly reluctant to work with a British special forces unit in 2011 amid concerns over deadly night raids and mounting political pressure from President Hamid Karzai.

A former UK Special Forces chief told the Afghanistan Inquiry he directly challenged a commander after becoming aware of allegations that troops under his command may have been deliberately killing people during operations in Afghanistan.

A former Special Forces headquarters chief told the Afghanistan Inquiry that increasing Afghan fatalities and concerns over raid tactics led commanders to order a review in 2011.

Ben Roberts-Smith’s arrest proves nothing about British troops, but it does show that even elite and decorated special-forces soldiers can be subjected to ordinary legal scrutiny, making it harder for the UK inquiry into alleged SAS killings to be dismissed as futile, unfair or impossible.

Britain’s row over Troubles legacy reform exposes a stark hypocrisy in which the government and senior officers demand accountability from others while resisting it for the state’s own use of lethal force.

Reports that Ministry of Defence-funded lawyers have advised SAS soldiers not to cooperate with the Afghanistan war crimes inquiry represent a serious subversion of justice and due process.

A series of reports by Action on Armed Violence reveals that Britain’s military justice system is mired in secrecy, impunity, and institutional evasion, with elite units shielded from scrutiny, whistleblowers silenced, and the Ministry of Defence systematically resisting accountability.