UK inquiry into alleged Afghan war crimes faces delay after millions of new documents found

Britain's Ministry of Defence has found ​97 million new documents, some ​of which could be relevant ‌to a ​public inquiry into allegations that British special forces murdered people in Afghanistan, a letter published on Tuesday ‌showed. The inquiry, which had aimed to give at least an interim report within 18 months but after nearly four years is yet to produce any findings, could ‌now be delayed further.

The letter, which was written by MoD lawyers ‌and published on the inquiry's website, said the ministry had told the inquiry this month that the new documents had been within a large dataset that the MoD expected would largely ⁠contain ​material beyond the scope ⁠of the inquiry. The inquiry's chair, Charles Haddon-Cave, said in a statement: "The late appearance of this ⁠potentially relevant material is troubling and regrettable, and if not rapidly addressed and managed, has the ​capacity to delay the important work of this inquiry, which is now ⁠well advanced."

The inquiry was set up in 2023 after a BBC documentary reported soldiers from ⁠the ​elite Special Air Service had killed 54 people during the war in Afghanistan more than a decade ago in suspicious circumstances. Haddon-Cave said there would ⁠be a hearing on Friday at which he would seek reassurances from the ⁠MoD that "any material ⁠of real relevance is quickly identified and disclosed" and that it would not happen again.

The MoD declined to comment before ‌Friday's hearing.