UK minister says he ‘cannot disprove’ claims Afghans were unlawfully killed

Johnny Mercer tells UK inquiry of reports SAS had killed civilians between 2010 and 2013

The UK's minister for veterans, Johnny Mercer, has effectively admitted in front of a public inquiry that he believed members of the SAS had engaged in dozens of unlawful killings of Afghan civilians between 2010 and 2013.

Mercer told the inquiry on Tuesday that at one point, shortly after first becoming a minister in 2019, Mercer said he told the then defence secretary, Ben Wallace, that something stinks". His boss replied: There is no new evidence, Johnny," and the cabinet minster chose not to take any further action.