LONDON: Members of Britain’s elite Special Air Service killed unarmed men and detainees during the war in Afghanistan, a BBC investigation has revealed.

Over a six-month tour, one SAS unity allegedly killed more than 50 people unlawfully. 

SAS operational accounts were analyzed by the BBC. The reports include details of more than a dozen night operations that followed a “kill or capture” ethos conducted by one SAS unit in 2010/11.

Witnesses who served with the unit told the BBC that they saw operatives kill unarmed people during the night raids.

Operatives also allegedly planted AK-47 “drop weapons” around unarmed detainees to justify the killings. 

Several SAS units had competed with one another to record the highest number of kills, witnesses said. 

Further evidence shows that Gen. Sir Mark Carleton-Smith, former head of the special forces, failed to refer crucial evidence to the Royal Military Police after being briefed on the alleged unlawful killings. The RMP at the time were conducting an investigation into the claims.

The UK Ministry of Defence said that it could not comment on the allegations, but that declining to do so did not prove the accuracy of the allegations.

British forces “served with courage and professionalism” in Afghanistan and were held to the “highest standards,” a ministry spokesman said.