UK inquiry into SAS Afghan civilian killings accrues £58 million after three-year delay

The Independent Inquiry relating to Afghanistan, set up by former defence secretary Ben Wallace, investigates accusations that Special Air Service members carried out extrajudicial killings of detainees and civilians, including children, during night raids from 2010 to 2013. Although the chair, Sir Charles Haddon-Cave, originally promised an interim report within 12-18 months, the inquiry has now been ongoing for more than three and a half years without publishing findings, attributing the delay to a scope larger than anticipated and delayed information from the Ministry of Defence.

Costs reported by the MoD amount to £58 million through March 2026, encompassing salaries for the chair, secretariat, legal counsel and expert witnesses, as well as the time of 74 MoD staff working over 50 % on the case. The SAS Regimental Association, representing thousands of current and former SAS personnel, expressed that the drawn-out process is damaging morale, the regiment’s reputation and its operational capability.

The inquiry’s expense is compared with the 12-year, £190 million Bloody Sunday Inquiry, underscoring the financial and temporal scale of such investigations. Officials reiterated a commitment to the safety of Special Forces personnel and a timely conclusion.