UK Cabinet Member Mercer Speaks at Hearing on War Crimes in Afghanistan

Johnny Mercer, the UK veterans minister and a former service member, at an inquiry into alleged war crimes of UK forces in Afghanistan, responded to questions about his having earlier raised concerns about the possibility that such war crimes had taken place.

During a hearing in a UK court on the Independent Inquiry Relating to Afghanistan, Mercer said that sources including serving officers had told him that UK forces killed innocent Afghans during their services in Afghanistan.

“UKSF have done killings of those individuals that posed no threat. My friend told me that I needed to be aware that this is the situation. You have the allegations, you have the department investing and equipment to try to understand the reports were changed… I will not share the name of the source,” said Johhny Mercer, the UK veterans minister.

The UK minister of state, citing a source, said that UK forces were asked to carry an extra unregistered weapon so that they could place it with the unarmed Afghan individual they killed.

“While operating in Afghanistan, the UK soldiers were asked to carry a dropped weapon [a weapon that cannot be linked with NATO forces]. It would appear after my time that it became practice for some units to take these … so you could place them with unarmed combatants or unarmed individuals,” said Mercer.

Mercer refused to name his sources, either those sources who claimed second-hand knowledge of the killings, or a source who claimed first-hand knowledge of preparing for such a killing by being told to bring a “dropped weapon” on an operation.

Mercer said there is a necessary “intellectual rigor” and “intellectual curiosity” to investigate implausible reports, and this curiosity was lacking among commanders who were privy to specific operational knowledge and had the knowledge to recognize anomalies in reports of operations.

“These perpetrators should not only be brought to justice but made to pay compensation for their killings so that justice is served,” said Aziz Maarij, a political analyst.

“I wish we had the human rights commission in Afghanistan so they could follow this case independently,” said Wahid Faqiri, a political analyst.