Book claims SAS killed two gang members behind 2003 murder of six military police in Iraq

Right · 2A new book, "Blades" by Mark Nicol, claims the SAS secretly tracked down and killed two members of the Iranian-backed gang that murdered six British military policemen (Red Caps) in Iraq in June 2003. 1 2 Right · 2The killings, weeks after Saddam Hussein was toppled, were described as the largest single loss of UK life to enemy action in the Iraq war. 1 2 Right · 2It had been widely thought for 23 years that the killers escaped across the border into Iran. The details of the two men's deaths have not been disclosed. 1 2

Right · 2The six men were executed inside a police station in Majar al-Kabir, Maysan province, after an angry demonstration; Iraqi police had left the station minutes earlier. They were Sergeant Simon Hamilton-Jewell, 41, and Corporals Russell Aston, 30, Paul Long, 24, and Simon Miller, 21, and Lance Corporals Ben Hyde, 23, and Tom Keys, 20. 1 2 Right · 2According to the book, SAS officers visited the same station days later disguised as grieving colleagues, and Iraqi police gave them the killers' names. 1 2 Right · 2An SAS officer quoted in the book says UK commanders were "disinterested" in finding those responsible and told the SAS to stop because it was "stirring up opposition"; the officer says the SAS would have got them all given the chance. 1 2

Right · 2The Mail on Sunday said it understood generals feared confronting Iranian-backed militants would trigger an uprising against UK forces in mainly Shia southern Iraq; GB News said senior figures were "said to have" blocked further operations for fear of retaliation. 1 2 Right · 2John Miller, father of Corporal Simon Miller, told the Mail on Sunday he was stunned to learn of it and was pleased two were dead, but called it a "sickening blow" that the SAS were stopped from pursuing the others. 1 2 Right · 2The families have accused the government of a cover-up, dispute a 2006 inquest finding that the deaths could not have been avoided, and were angered by £800,000 paid in 2013 to nine Iraqi police officers who said they were tortured to obtain the killers' names. 1 2

Right · 2The Ministry of Defence expressed "heartfelt sympathies" to the families but does not comment publicly on SAS operations, so the claims are unconfirmed. 1 2