The Afghanistan Inquiry has heard evidence from a former journalist and a reservist about the conduct of UK special forces in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013 and claims of a cover-up12:09, 14 Jul 2026Updated 13:27, 14 Jul 2026British special forces troops in Afghanistan dropped prisoners from forklifts “for fun” and behaved like they were in 'Lord of the Flies' an inquiry has heard.‌The Afghanistan Inquiry into alleged war crimes committed by the British Armed Forces also heard how a soldier was dubbed a ‘Taliban-loving apologist’ after he asked an officer from UK special forces (UKSF) about an incident where three farmers were killed in a night raid.‌Whistleblowers Monica Grenfell, a former journalist, and Christopher Green, who was part of the Army Reserve, spoke behind closed doors about the alleged offences between 2010 and 3013, with redacted records of their testimony released today.‌Mr Green was as an information operations officer responsible for engaging with the local Afghan population and persuading them that a better life was ahead following the western invasion.Following an incident in which three brothers working as farmers in the village of Rahim were shot dead by special forces, Mr Green, who served between January and September 2012, said he was told the shooting happened when a deliberate detention operation had “gone wrong” and UKSF troops shot the trio lawfully “in self-defence”.‌He said his unit’s intelligence team were “pretty clear that there was nothing to suggest that the sons were anything other than farmers and even less to suggest that they were Taliban commanders.”He tried to raise his concerns with a UK special forces (UKSF) liaison officer but he told he inquiry: “There was a strong sense of resentment from him that I was questioning what the SAS were up to.“At some point he did call me a ‘Taliban-loving apologist’.”‌Despite having the necessary security clearance to see the bodycam footage of the killings Mr was denied access, the inquiry was told. The mother of the three brothers, Bebe Hazrata, was given £3,634 in cash by the UK government after her sons were killed as an “assistance payment”.“It is a very unusual policy and to my mind it was an admission of guilt that we had killed the wrong people and that these people were not actually Taliban commanders,” Mr Green told inquiry chairman Lord Justice Haddon-Cave.The whistleblower said he first thought the shooters had “got the wrong people”, but grew to believe “you’ve got the wrong people and you’ve behaved unlawfully”.‌'Coarse and feral'Evidence on the second incident came from Monica Grenfell, who worked the UKSF between 2015 and 2018 as a kitchen staff member and a storewoman.She said she had spoken to a soldier who bragged about abusing detainees. "I specifically recall him telling me that he would put prisoners on a forklift, raise it up and drive very fast so that they fell off."‌When Asked by counsel to the inquiry Jonathan Polnay KC about this evidence, she said she was “appalled” that the man “thought it was funny”.“I mean, he wasn’t doing anything alone, but it was something they did for fun doing this and jamming on the brakes so they fell off,” the witness said.She said the atmosphere was deeply unpleasant in the special forces camp - describing it as “coarse and feral” and claiming she had “never been anywhere that was as bad as there.”‌She added: “You felt that people had been let off the leash somehow, that they knew that, you know, like they wore their own clothes, the soldiers I mean mostly, and you felt no one was really watching them.”The inquiry heard there was also “sexual banter” that “went on from the beginning of the day to the end”.‌Ms Grenfell said another colleague she had met at the military base said he had been disturbed by the culture in Afghanistan and that the people they worked with had “sort of gone wild”.She told the inquiry: “We did actually have a conversation where he brought up the book Lord Of The Flies and I’m sure people know that, where it was just a group of men really who were, he felt, threatened by them.“I think he was quite a sensitive soul and indeed we talked a bit about the fact that I found, as I have said earlier here today, it difficult and feral and we talked about whether that was us.”‌The inquiry is also looking at whether there was an alleged cover-up of illegal activity and inadequate investigation by the Royal Military Police.No charges were brought under Operation Northmoor, a £10 million investigation set up in 2014 to examine allegations of executions by the SAS, including those of children.A further Royal Military Police investigation, codenamed Operation Cestro, resulted in three soldiers being referred to the Service Prosecuting Authority, but none of them were prosecuted.‌A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “The Government is fully committed to supporting the independent inquiry relating to Afghanistan as it continues its work, and we are hugely grateful to all former and current defence employees who have so far given evidence.”“We also remain committed to providing the support that our Special Forces deserve, whilst maintaining the transparency and accountability that the British people rightly expect from their armed forces.”“It’s right that we allow the inquiry to complete its important work before responding in full.”Article continues belowThe inquiry continues.