Australia detains former trooper over war crimes in Afghanistan War

Australian authorities have arrested a former Special Forces soldier at the country’s busiest airport over war crimes perpetrated against civilians during the Afghanistan War.

According to the state-run Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Ben Roberts-Smith was detained at Sydney Airport, and he is set to appear in a court in New South Wales later on Tuesday over five counts of the war crime of murder.

The charges are related to unarmed Afghan nationals who “were not taking part in hostilities at the time of their murder,” Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday.

Barrett stated that the charges followed a “complex” investigation by the Australian Federal Police and the Office of the Special Investigator (OSI) dating back to 2021.

The detention came after Roberts-Smith lost defamation proceedings he had earlier brought against journalists, who had reported that he was “complicit in and responsible for the murder” of three Afghan men.

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The Australian government is set to put a former military lawyer on trial for leaking classified documents about the perpetration of crimes by Australian occupation troops during the invasion of Afghanistan.

An Australian judge found in 2023 that those journalists had not defamed Roberts-Smith.

The ruling was upheld by the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia in May last year.

Rawan Arraf, the executive director of the Australian Center for International Justice, said the arrest was a “significant and long-awaited step for victims and affected communities” in Afghanistan, where Roberts-Smith was deployed multiple times.

“The proper investigation and prosecution of alleged war crimes by members of the Australian special forces in Afghanistan are essential to ensuring justice for Afghan victims and to Australia meeting its obligations under international law,” Arraf said in a statement.

Roberts-Smith’s case has drawn considerable scrutiny in Australia, including because prior to the charges, he had received the Victoria Cross medal for his fifth tour of Afghanistan, and was reportedly the most-decorated living Australian War veteran.

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A court of law in Australia has ruled that a former award-winning Aussie soldier committed murder and other war crimes in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, former Australian army lawyer David McBride remains imprisoned in Australia over his role in revealing information about alleged Australian War crimes in Afghanistan.

Australian Senator David Shoebridge responded to the news of Roberts-Smith’s arrest by saying “Release David McBride” in a short post on the social media platform X.

About 39,000 Australian soldiers were deployed to Afghanistan as part of the US-led invasion of the Asian country in 2001.

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