Military covered up shooting of Afghan family

Nick McKenzie

May 11, 2009

AUSTRALIAN military personnel were involved in a cover-up of an investigation into the alleged involvement of special forces soldiers in the killing and maiming of Afghan civilians.

Information held by the Defence Department contradicts claims by the Defence Force chief, Angus Houston, that SAS troopers had nothing to do with an incident that left an Afghan man dead, a woman blinded and her daughter badly injured.

Air Chief Marshal Houston told a parliamentary hearing in early 2007 that a "quick assessment" investigation had found "absolutely no substance to the allegations" that Australian special forces were involved in the incident near Tarin Kowt in southern Afghanistan in July 2006.

But information gathered by Defence officials in Afghanistan has been uncovered that implicates Australians in the shooting. It is believed that some of this information was uncovered during the "quick assessment" ordered by the ADF.

A well-placed Defence source said there was pressure on Defence officials in Afghanistan to cover up the incident. Information detailing possible Australian involvement in the incident is believed to have been stored on ADF computers in Afghanistan. It is almost certain this information did not make its way to Air Chief Marshal Houston before he was questioned by the Senate Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee.

An Afghan parliamentarian, Haji Abdul Khaliq, whose relatives were the victims of the attack, said he was convinced Australians were responsible.

Mr Khaliq said the attack on his relative's car had killed his brother-in-law Abdul Baqi, blinded his wife and badly injured his daughter, who later had her leg amputated. His son and a niece and nephew were also injured.

"Australian forces attacked my family ... they started shooting them," said Mr Khaliq.

"We asked the governor and police chief who made the investigation. They said that they were Australians [who had fired at the car]. They did not give any sign to stop. My car's windows were not dark. Inside the car was visible."

Mr Khaliq said none of the Australians helped the injured. "They didn't even give them a bottle of water and they didn't even take them to hospital."

The former governor of the area in which the attack took place, Abdul Hakim Monib, said a senior Australian officer told him Australians were responsible. "They expressed their sorrow for the incident and they said 'We thought they were the enemy' ... They said it was a mistake and we are upset about it."

In a written statement a Defence official said the claims of Mr Khaliq did "not correspond to Coalition patrol reporting."

But the Greens leader, Bob Brown, has called on Air Chief Marshal Houston to launch an inquiry. "It is very deeply concerning that, on the face of it, there may have been a cover-up of an incident involving death and injury to civilians in Afghanistan," Senator Brown said.

Mr Houston's 2007 comments and the investigation summary likely to have been sent to Canberra are contradicted by information uncovered during the investigation in Afghanistan.

The information reveals:

* An SAS patrol was in the vicinity when the shooting occurred;

* The patrol reported a "contact" - meaning they fired their weapons; and

* The area in which the SAS patrol reported the enemy to be located was the same area in which the family was travelling.

At the time of the shooting, the SAS patrol believed taxis were ferrying Taliban insurgents in the area. A Defence source said it was possible troopers shot at the vehicle believing it was carrying Taliban militants.

Other information available to Defence officials also pointed to the involvement of Australians, as do interviews conducted recently in Kabul.

The revelations raise questions about whether Air Chief Marshal Houston unwittingly misled the Senate committee, as well as doubts about the adequacy of inquiries in combat zones.

When Air Chief Marshal Houston was questioned about the incident by the Greens senator Kerry Nettle at the hearing in February 2007, he said: "We investigated it [the alleged involvement of Australians] and we found no evidence of Australian troops involved in what was described as happening."

The Defence Department is yet to release the findings of two other inquiries into claims Australians were responsible for the deaths of civilians this year.

In January, an Australian operation aimed at finding those responsible for the death of the special forces soldier Greg Sher allegedly left four Afghan civilians dead. Five children were killed in an incident involving Australian troops in February.

The Age

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