A whistleblower has told an independent inquiry that British soldiers picked up Afghan prisoners on a forklift and drove at top speed until they fell off, describing the behaviour as something they did 'for fun'. Monica Grenfell, who worked with the United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) between 2015 and 2018 as a kitchen staff member and storewoman, said soldiers had gone 'feral' and were 'like the Lord of the Flies' on one base.
Forklift abuse allegations
Grenfell told the Afghanistan Inquiry that she had met a man, identified only as Name3, who had served in Afghanistan and Iraq before working with the UKSF. In her witness statement, she said: 'I specifically recall him (Name3) telling me that he would put prisoners on a forklift, raise it up and drive very fast so that they fell off. He said that he behaved in the same way in Afghanistan.'
Asked by counsel to the inquiry Jonathan Polnay KC about this evidence, she said she was 'appalled' that the man 'thought it was funny'. 'I mean, he wasn't doing anything alone, but it was something they did for fun doing this and jamming on the brakes so they fell off,' the witness said. She said she came across Name3 again when she started to work at the military base.
'Feral' atmosphere at special forces camp
The inquiry heard that Grenfell had previously described the atmosphere at the special forces camp as 'coarse and feral'. Giving evidence, she said she had 'never been anywhere that was as bad as there.' She added: 'You felt that people had been let off the leash somehow, that they knew that, you know, like they wore their own clothes, the soldiers I mean mostly, and you felt no one was really watching them and the language was just, I've never known the language like it.' She added that there was 'sexual banter' that 'went on from the beginning of the day to the end'.
Grenfell said another colleague she met at the military base said he had been disturbed by the culture in Afghanistan and that the people they worked with had 'sort of gone wild'. She told the inquiry: 'We did actually have a conversation where he brought up the book Lord Of The Flies and I'm sure people know that, where it was just a group of men really who were, he felt, threatened by them. I think he was quite a sensitive soul and indeed we talked a bit about the fact that I found, as I have said earlier here today, it difficult and feral and we talked about whether that was us.'
Inquiry examines unlawful killings and cover-up claims
The probe is examining allegations of unlawful killings by UK special forces during operations in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013, as well as claims of a subsequent cover-up. The inquiry also heard from whistleblower Christopher Green, who served in Afghanistan in 2012. Green, part of the Army Reserve, served between January and September 2012 and was a 'direct witness' to complaints raised by local village elders to his unit about killings in the village of Rahim.
'At some point he did call me a 'Taliban-loving apologist',' Green said. The inquiry heard that the brothers' mother, Bebe Hazrata, had reportedly been paid the equivalent of £3,634 in cash by the UK Government after the death of her sons, which was described as an 'assistance payment'. Green told inquiry chairman Lord Justice Haddon-Cave: 'You know in incidents where Taliban leaders were lawfully killed in the course of combat, there was no need to recompense the families to satisfy the local nationals, and that is not something that Her Majesty's Government were in the habit of doing. So it is a very unusual policy and to my mind it was an admission of guilt that we had killed the wrong people and that these people were not actually Taliban commanders.'
Ministry of Defence responds
A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: 'The Government is fully committed to supporting the Independent Inquiry relating to Afghanistan as it continues its work, and we are hugely grateful to all former and current Defence employees who have so far given evidence. We also remain committed to providing the support that our Special Forces deserve, whilst maintaining the transparency and accountability that the British people rightly expect from their armed forces. It's right that we allow the Inquiry to complete its important work before responding in full.'
The inquiry continues.
