The summary execution of the elderly detainee on Easter Sunday,2009,is one of several incidents involving a rogue SASR team operating in Afghanistan which has been uncovered by a Fairfax Media investigation and corroborated by special forces insiders.
The grey-haired,bearded Afghan man executed by the"rookie"was,according to some SASR members,a suspected Taliban member,but at the time presented no threat to Australian soldiers. The newly deployed soldier allegedly shot the man after being prompted by two more senior soldiers,one of whom was earlier overheard proclaiming a need to"blood the rookie".
One of the sources said the killing was less abhorrent than the pressuring.
"If shit needs to be done,do it yourself,"the soldier said.
SASR sources claim the man with the prosthetic leg was machine-gunned by a soldier that,for legal reasons,Fairfax Media will call"Leonidas".
Leonidas is also implicated in the killing of a detainee three years later in September 2012 during a SASR mission in the village of Darwan. Leonidas allegedly kicked handcuffed detainee Ali Jan off the edge of a small cliff,badly injuring his face,according to claims of two defence force insiders who witnessed the event.