Unlawful Throwdowns Revealed in Australian SAS Afghanistan Operations

A 2021 inspector-general report on the Australian Defence Force’s Special Air Service (SAS) found that some officers were aware that soldiers were planting weapons on dead Afghan civilians to portray them as combatants—a practice known as “throwdowns.” The report concluded that officers with knowledge of the misconduct did not investigate or halt the behaviour, indicating a breakdown of command and erosion of military discipline within the regiment.

The Guardian

The findings follow the 2020 Brereton Inquiry, which documented credible evidence that Australian special-forces personnel murdered 39 Afghan civilians and prisoners. While the Brereton report largely exonerated senior officers, it identified the misconduct as occurring at the patrol-commander level, a rank typically held by corporals or sergeants. The 2021 investigation, commissioned by former defence chief Angus Campbell, expanded the focus to include senior SAS officers’ failure to act on known violations.

The Guardian

Admiral Mark Hammond, chief of the Australian Defence Force, described the report’s revelations as “unacceptable” and affirmed that “serious failures” existed within the SAS command structure. He also acknowledged that legal officers had obstructed investigations into alleged war-crimes. Greens Senator David Shoebridge highlighted an “accountability gap” for senior leaders who possessed data that should have triggered action.

The Guardian

• “This was also a manifestation of a broader breakdown of military discipline within the SAS regiment. The tolerance of officers of overt non-compliance sent a powerful signal.” — The Guardian (report excerpt)

The Guardian

• “The behaviour you’re describing is completely unacceptable,” — Admiral Mark Hammond

The Guardian

• “I lived a lot of what I read in that report. There’s almost 50 findings, and a lot of it rings very true to me as a junior officer at the time.” — Andrew Hastie

The Guardian