Testimony of ex-SAS commander, called by Roberts-Smith, contradicts previous witnesses called by newspapers about Whiskey 108 operation
The secret tunnel at the Whiskey 108 compound in the village of Kakarak in Afghanistan.Person 5 is the first witness-in-reply called by Roberts-Smith. He said on Tuesday he regards Roberts-Smith as a capable soldier and a “very good friend”.
“He was in there no more than a couple of minutes. He then came back, stuck his head out and said it was clear,” Person 5 told the court. Person 5’s evidence accords with that of Roberts-Smith. In his evidence, Roberts-Smith told the court that there were “no people in the tunnel at Whiskey 108”, and that two men killed during the operation were legitimate enemy targets lawfully engaged and killed in accordance with the laws of war. Roberts-Smith said the man with the prosthetic leg was engaged outside the compound carrying a weapon, and described allegations he had ordered the execution of the elderly man as “completely false”.
“Pursuant to that order Person 4 placed [the Afghan man] on his knees and shot him in the back of the head. Person 4 was ordered to execute [the Afghan man] so that he could be ‘blooded’,” the defence document states.
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