An Australian soldier has been charged with war crimes allegedly committed in Afghanistan, as announced by federal police following an extensive investigation into Australian troop behavior in the country between 2005 and 2016.
The former special forces officer, Ben Roberts-Smith, 47, a recipient of the Victoria Cross, Australia’s highest military decoration, has been charged with murder. The charges relate to murders in April 2009, and September and October 2012 in the Afghan province of Uruzgan.
If convicted, he could face a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Roberts-Smith, a former member of the Special Air Service Regiment, was once hailed as a war hero in Australia. However, his reputation was tarnished in 2018 when allegations surfaced linking him to the murder of unarmed Afghan prisoners, which he denied.
Investigative reporting alleged that his heroic image masked repeated criminal and immoral behavior, including incidents where he reportedly ordered the killing of an unarmed Afghan civilian and participated in shooting a man with an artificial leg before using the leg as a drinking vessel.
Australia deployed a total of 39,000 soldiers in Afghanistan over two decades as part of operations led by the United States and NATO against the Taliban and other organizations.
A military investigation in 2020 revealed that special forces members had “unlawfully killed” 39 Afghan civilians and prisoners, exposing claims of summary executions, competitions for the highest number of victims, and torture by Australian forces.
Under pressure, the government appointed a special investigator to determine if current or former soldiers should face criminal charges.
In March 2023, another former Australian special forces soldier was arrested for a presumed war crime in Afghanistan. His trial is scheduled for February 2027 in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.
