Delays Persist in War Crimes Cases Against Foreign Forces in Afghanistan

Cases involving Australian and British special forces members accused of war crimes in Afghanistan remain unresolved more than five years after initial allegations surfaced.

Former Australian officer Ben Roberts-Smith was arrested nearly four months before July 2026 on five counts of war crimes. His case is still in preliminary stages, with the main trial expected to extend until 2029 due to national security concerns and the complexity of the proceedings.

Another Australian soldier, Oliver Schultz, was accused in 2023 of murdering an Afghan civilian in Uruzgan province. He first appeared in the New South Wales Supreme Court in October 2025, though national security restrictions continue to limit public access to case documents.

In the United Kingdom, the Independent Afghanistan Investigations were launched in 2023 to examine claims of war crimes by special forces. No final conclusions have been reached.

Relatives of victims in Uruzgan province have continued to call for justice in the unresolved cases.