Nine Australian soldiers have committed suicide in the past three weeks amid the publication of an incriminating report on alleged war crimes committed by Australian forces in Afghanistan. The Daily Mail reports.
A four-year investigation has uncovered a “shameful list” of unlawful killings committed outside the “battlefield”. In just the past three weeks, one woman and eight men between the ages of 20 and 50 have committed suicide.
It is noted that such a number of soldiers who committed suicide in such a short period of time is unprecedented in the recent military history of Australia. The stress of the investigation, which uncovered evidence of 39 killings by Australian intelligence agencies, is believed to have played a role in some of these suicides.
It is emphasized, however, that there is no evidence that the nine deceased military personnel had anything to do with the alleged war crimes documented in the report.
Earlier it became known that the elite Australian military killed Afghans at the ceremony of initiation into special forces. A report by Defense Ministry spokesman Major General of Justice Paul Brereton noted that between 2009 and 2013, patrol commanders ordered recruits to kill Afghans so that they would be “baptized in blood.” The victims were prisoners of war, peasants and civilians.
