Australian Defence Force takes out war breach adverts in newspapers

Military investigators have taken the highly unusual step of reaching out to Australia’s Afghan community for information on any wrongdoing committed by Diggers in Afghanistan.

Notices calling for details of “rumours” of possible breaches of the rules of war in Afghanistan were placed in Afghani newspapers publishing in Australia, including Victoria’s Arman Monthly and the NSW-based Persian Herald.

In a statement about the March advertisements, the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force said it wanted to hear from anyone about “possible breaches of the laws of armed conflict by Australian forces” in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016 or “rumours of them”.

The advertisements had previously been published in the mainstream Australian press, leading to complaints the military should not be calling for “rumours” to feed an inquiry.

Amid concerns about the mental welfare of soldiers, a fresh review has been ordered into the behaviour of elite special forces.

Former Australian Security Intelligence Organisation chief David Irvine has begun an independent assessment of Australia’s Special Forces to determine “the effectiveness of reform initiatives” and identify whether additional improvements are needed.

The retired spy boss was commissioned by army chiefs this year amid ongoing scrutiny of the culture within the Special Operations Task Group.

The investigation is the third into the nation’s special forces to be launched in two years.

It has been claimed that one of those reports by Defence consultant Samantha Crompvoets found some special forces soldiers allegedly carried out war crimes in Afghanistan.

Parts of the 2016 confidential inquiry, which prompted an ongoing investigation, were said to show concerns that special forces soldiers carried out “unsanctioned and illegal application of violence on operations” that included “disregard for human life and dignity”.

Former Australian Special Forces Lieutenant Colonel Riccardo Bosi yesterday blasted the SAS allegations as a “stitch-up”.

“If people want to find out about the SAS regiment, they should conduct an investigation involving ministers of defence, chiefs of the defence force and commanders of special operations command, and you might want to go back about 15 years,” he told Sky News.

“If there are problems in the regiment, these things don’t happen in isolation. They follow orders, and those orders lead to consequences.”

Mr Irvine has reportedly been asked to examine what improvements have been made within the Special Air Services Regiment and commando regiments since problems began to be identified during the war in Afghanistan.