UK special forces operated secretly in Nigeria – Report

Research has shown that over the past 12 years, the British Special Air Service and other special forces from the European nation have conducted covert operations in Nigeria as well as 18 other countries.

It is possible to recall that in 2012, a team of SBS commandos made an unsuccessful attempt to free a British national and an Italian national who were being held captive by an Islamist group in Nigeria.

According to a report published by The Guardian UK, the British Special Air Service also conducted covert operations in Algeria, Estonia, France, Oman, Iraq, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Cyprus, Pakistan, Somalia, the Philippines, Russia, Syria, Ukraine, Yemen, and most recently, Sudan.

Covert operations are carried out by the elite military units because they do not have ministers who publicly certify that they are carrying them out. On the other hand, a research organisation known as Action on Gun Violence has compiled a list of their operations beginning in 2011, the online newspaper added in a report dated May 23, 2023 and titled “UK special forces have operated secretly in 19 countries since 2011,” based on information that was obtained through media leaks.

It gives the impression that the prime minister and defence secretary frequently send personnel of the SAS, Special Boat Service, and Special Reconnaissance Regiment on dangerous operations, most of the time when Britain is not currently engaged in a conflict.

According to reports, special forces entered Syria in 2012 in order to assist rebel groups in their fight against the government of President Bashar al-Assad. This activity by special forces has been particularly active in Syria. It is also believed that in 2013, they were dispatched to locate military targets in advance of a bombing campaign, which the members of parliament ultimately decided not to support.

However, due to the obsession with secrecy, a member of the SAS named Matt Tonroe, who was killed in Syria in 2018, was officially identified as a member of the Parachute Regiment. It was later learned that an improvised explosive device was not the cause of death but rather a grenade that had been thrown by one of his American colleagues.

In documents that were stolen from the Pentagon earlier this year, it was revealed that fifty members of the United Kingdom’s special forces were operating in Ukraine, despite the fact that the United Kingdom is not an official participant in the conflict. The numbers that were provided for the United States of America and France were 14 and 15, respectively. However, their purpose was not made clear in any way.

The authors of the report state that the extensive list of deployments occurred despite a lack of control over the situation. Even though special forces can be deployed without the consent of the Commons and are not subject to investigations by parliamentary committees, proper protocol dictates that MPs vote to authorise a war before special forces can be used.

After a terrorist attack in June 2015 in which 38 people, including 30 Britons, were killed at a beach hotel in Tunisia, it was once claimed that David Cameron, the then-prime minister of the country, had given the SAS “carte blanche” to apprehend or kill Middle Eastern Islamic leaders. This was after the attack, which took place in Tunisia.

“The extensive deployment of Britain’s Special Forces in numerous countries over the past decade raises serious concerns about transparency and democratic oversight,” said Iain Overton, the executive director of AOAV. It is extremely concerning that these missions did not receive parliamentary approval and were not subjected to retrospective reviews.

However, the public investigation into allegations that the SAS carried out 54 summary executions in Afghanistan during the years 2010 and 2011 — most of which took place during night raids — began in the month of March. After being accused of producing a weapon, men were separated from their families and murdered multiple times before their bodies were found.

After the outbreak of violence in Sudan in April, special forces assisted in the evacuation of twenty-two British diplomats and their families to an airfield located north of the capital city when the diplomats and their families were in danger of being attacked.

Ben Wallace, who is now the defence secretary but was a Conservative MP at the time, expressed his gratitude for the military’s efforts. According to the Ministry of Defence, the operation was also carried out by members of the Royal Marines, the Royal Air Force, and the Parachute Regiment; however, it did not involve any special forces.

Exfiltrations and hostage rescues are both common activities in which special forces regularly participate. A mission to free a couple who had been detained in the Philippines in 2019 was a success thanks to the assistance of special forces from the United Kingdom, which also assisted in the preparation of the mission by training Philippine military personnel. In 2012, a group of SBS commandos made an unsuccessful attempt to free a British national and an Italian national who were being held captive by an Islamist group in Nigeria.

The last time members of the SAS were mentioned in the media was in 2014, when a tabloid reported that they were “on hand” to protect the well-being of British athletes competing in the Winter Olympics in Sochi.