UK minister says he ‘cannot disprove’ claims Afghans were unlawfully killed

Johnny Mercer tells UK inquiry of reports SAS had killed civilians between 2010 and 2013

The UK’s minister for veterans, Johnny Mercer, effectively admitted in front of a public inquiry that he believed members of the SAS had engaged in dozens of unlawful killings of Afghan civilians between 2010 and 2013.

The Conservative MP, a former army officer, said he did not want to believe reports that the elite British soldiers had killed Afghans while sleeping or executed them on night raids, but had found nothing that would contradict them.