Person 11, called as a witness by Roberts-Smith, tells court Ali Jan a threat to Australian troops and legitimately killed
An SAS soldier has backed Ben Roberts-Smith’s version of an Afghan man’s death during an SAS mission in Darwan in 2012, telling the federal court that a man shot dead during the operation was an insurgent spotter who was a threat to Australian troops and legitimately killed.
“Shortly after coming out of the dry creek bed I identified an individual in amongst the corn,” Person 11 told the court. “My assessment was this individual was moving in a very suspicious manner.“I saw this person carrying a radio, which led me to make the assessment that this was a spotter: this person would report on our dispositions and movements … I assessed this person posed a direct threat to the extraction of our forces so I engaged.
Roberts-Smith, when he gave evidence last year, told the court, he climbed the embankment to confront the man, “facing him, he was two metres away”. At the end of the mission, the newspapers allege that a farmer called Ali Jan – visiting Darwan to buy flour – was taken into custody and handcuffed by the Australian soldiers.
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