British police arrests five elite soldiers for alleged war crimes in Syria

Five Special Air Service (SAS) soldiers have been arrested by British military police on suspicion of alleged war crimes in Syria, according to media reports.

The soldiers from the elite force could face murder charges over the death of a suspected "militant" two years ago.

Reports on Tuesday suggest that the troops used excessive force and should have arrested the man instead. The soldiers claim he posed a threat and intended to carry out a suicide attack.

The Guardian reported that the Ministry of Defence said it would not comment directly on the investigation, but defence sources indicated that reports regarding the arrests were accurate.

'Not the first report'

"We hold our personnel to the highest standards, and any allegations of wrongdoing are taken seriously. Where appropriate, any criminal allegations are referred to the service police for investigation," said a ministry spokesperson.

According to the report, the SAS has been actively deployed in Syria over the past 10 years, engaged in the fight against the Daesh terrorist group and supporting the US-backed so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), under which the YPG, Syrian branch of the PKK, works.

This is not the first report regarding alleged crimes committed by SAS soldiers, as an independent probe was launched last March into allegations of summary killings by British troops in Afghanistan.

In December 2022, Britain’s Defence Ministry ordered an independent inquiry after a BBC TV documentary reported that soldiers from the SAS had killed dozens of people during raids carried out by one of its squadrons in Helmand province in 2010-11.