60 Minutes reveals ‘damning allegations’ against Australian soldiers

Australia’s most decorated soldier has hit back at allegations aired on 60 Minutes that he kicked a handcuffed Afghan man off a cliff.

The country’s most celebrated soldier has been accused of a shocking act against a handcuffed Afghan soldier.

Last night 60 Minutes revealed “the unpalatable truth about a group of men Australians think of as heroes” — including Victoria Cross for Australia recipient Ben Roberts-Smith.

The “damning allegations” were the result of an investigation by 60 Minutes, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

The investigation focused on the death of Afghan farmer Ali Jan, who was killed on September 11, 2012 — 11 years after the September 11 terrorist attacks that sparked the war in Afghanistan in the first place.

Mr Roberts-Smith is accused of kicking a handcuffed Afghan farmer off a cliff, before he was executed by another Australian soldier.

Mr Roberts-Smith furiously rejected the claims.

“I categorically deny the allegations made against me in tonight’s 60 Minutes program,” he said in a statement.

“I am concerned that tonight’s story and the previous publications by the SMH/Age are an attempt to improperly influence the outcome of the (Inspector-General of the Defence Force) inquiry.”

Several insiders made damning allegations against fellow Aussie troops. Picture: 60 Minutes/Channel 9

Two weeks before the farmer’s death, an Afghan army sergeant named Hekmatullah opened fire on Australian troops, killing Rick Milosevic, Sapper James Martin and Robert Poate at point blank range and then fleeing.

After that, the Special Air Service was tasked with tracking Hekmatullah down.

They eventually received a tip-off that he was in the village of Darwan — a village Ali Jan happened to be visiting to collect flour for his family.

A group of men in the village, including Ali Jan, were detained and questioned by Australian troops.

Ali Jan's widow Bibi Dhorko says her husband was innocent. Picture: 60 Minutes/Channel 9

The farmer was handcuffed and taken to a compound near a sandy cliff — but an SAS insider told 60 Minutes that things allegedly took a brutal turn.

According to reporter Nick McKenzie, witnesses claim Ali Jan’s hands were bound before he was taken from the compound to the cliff.

The witness alleges that the man was then placed on his knees near the edge — before an Australian soldier “took a short run-up” and kicked him “like a scene from the movie 300”.

The insider — whose identity has been withheld — alleged the man responsible was Mr Roberts-Smith.

SAS insiders tell #60Mins “heroes do not go and murder innocent individuals.” pic.twitter.com/HRfBDdQ7rm

— 60 Minutes Australia (@60Mins) September 22, 2019

“The individual who kicked the detainee off the cliff was Ben Roberts-Smith,” the man told the program.

“The allegation is that he was kicked off the cliff, and then was executed at the bottom of the cliff” (by another soldier).

60 Minutes has reported the incident is now being investigated by the Australian Federal Police, and according to the Sydney Morning Herald, “the military Inspector-General is also investigating Ali Jan’s treatment as an alleged war crime and also dispatched investigators to Afghanistan”.

Ben Roberts-Smith has denied the allegations against him. Picture: 60 Minutes/Chanel 9

Mr Roberts-Smith — who was awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia — said the allegations were made by critics who were jealous and envious of his success.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Mr Roberts-Smith has denied any wrongdoing and has also “initiated defamation proceedings against Nine”, which owns the publication, over several articles published in 2018 that reported on allegations that he had been implicated in war crimes.

Mr Roberts-Smith told The Australian the two anonymous sources quoted on the program spoke in a way that suggested they had not actually witnessed the alleged killing of Ali Jan. “None of the witnesses on tonight’s broadcast provided any direct evidence of any sort to support their allegations,’’ he said.

Mr Roberts-Smith said he was “appalled’’ that both he and his colleagues were being traduced in such a manner and expressed astonishment that Nine cleared the program for broadcast, given the strength of the evidence.

“It is of serious concern to me and my lawyers that journalists have relied on such demonstrably weak evidence to support false allegations,’’ he said.

The insider claims Ali Jan’s death, which he said was caused by a separate, unnamed soldier and not Mr Roberts-Smith, was the result of pressure within the military to “chalk up kills”.

“I don’t know why they did it. I just don’t know why they did it. I just don’t know why blokes took the law into their own hands. But I honestly think because they weren’t being watched and it was for some of them maybe it was just chalking up kills,” he said.

It was a sentiment echoed by West Australian Federal MP and former SAS Captain Andrew Hastie, who told the program there was a risk that a small number of his special forces’ colleagues were beginning to chase kills.

West Australian Federal MP and former SAS Captain Andrew Hastie says there was a risk that a small number of his special forces’ colleagues were beginning to chase kills. #60Mins pic.twitter.com/Y62gpJHJcj

— 60 Minutes Australia (@60Mins) September 22, 2019

According to 60 Minutes, Ali Jan “wasn’t the only one allegedly executed by Australian soldiers”.

Other incidents are reportedly being investigated, including another execution which allegedly took place on October 3, 2012.

In that incident, which is not alleged to have any connection to Roberts-Smith, an Australian commando allegedly shot a prisoner of war in the back of the head at point blank range.

The man responsible for the death allegedly wrote a confession which has been seen by 60 Minutes — and it reveals he now lives with “enormous regret” — but that he was following orders from his superior.

Meanwhile, Ali Jan’s widow Bibi Dhorko is calling for justice, insisting her husband was innocent

“He was innocent. He went to bring flour for his children,” she told 60 Minutes.

Ali Jan's children have been left without a father. Picture: 60 Minutes/Channel 9

“I am so sad it becomes hard for the day and night to pass. I keep thinking about why this happened to me, why is he gone for no reason? Why did such cruelty happen?

“He was not Taliban. There was no gun. He knew nothing about guns. He hated the Taliban.”