SAS soldier who was filmed executing unarmed man also executed the “village idiot” in Afghanistan, says fellow soldiers

Members of the Australian SAS singled out a fellow trooper for two war crimes after he allegedly killed a mentally disabled man in Afghanistan.

The trooper, known only as “Soldier C,” reportedly murdered a mentally disabled man in the so-called “village idiot killing,” an inquiry that is being investigated by the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF).

Soldier C reportedly shot the man as he was limping away from a firefight that ensued during a raid.

The victim was identified by locals as Ziauddin, a farmer in his early 20s from the Paryan Nawa region of Kandahar Province.

“Ziauddin had a mental illness…because two years ago the Taliban beat him,” said a local in an interview with an Afghan journalist affiliated with  the ABC. “Because of those beatings, he developed a mental problem.”

Soldier C, however, took no pity upon the “village idiot,” unleashing two shots into the back of Ziauddin’s head as the young man tried to flee the scene.

“Being that close, I thought that it was unusual that he was raising his weapon, and then he let two shots off,” said one anonymous participant of the raid, describing Soldier C’s actions. “His head exploded. There was no need for what happened. No need whatsoever. In my book that was war crimes…Murder.”

A makeshift chest rig was allegedly placed with Ziauddin’s body after the fact. 

“The reason for that is that it enables him to be identified as a combatant and you can engage him using lethal force,” another patrol member said.

It is unknown if the two “sources” are no longer with the SASR, or if they simply spoke out of turn in order to incriminate Soldier C.

Soldier C is reportedly the same trooper that shot an Afghan man at point-blank range during the Afghan’s encounter with a military working dog in 2012 (video above).

The IGADF is investigating more than 55 separate incidents of alleged war crimes by Australian special forces committed in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016.

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