SAS soldiers returned to war zone after murder questioning, Sunday Times reports

Five Special Air Service (SAS) soldiers were sent back into a war zone just 48 hours after being questioned by police over a killing in Syria, The Sunday Times reports. The decision to return them to operations is the focus of its new investigation. The criminal case was closed in 2025 without charges against any of the five. [1] [7]

The men were investigated over the death of a suspected jihadist during an operation in Syria in 2022. The Guardian reported in 2024 that they were accused of using excessive force. They disputed that allegation, saying they believed the man posed a threat. Sky News reported at the time that the soldiers remained on active duty during the inquiry, though that did not establish when they returned to the war zone. [6] [5]

The accounts of their arrests do not fit neatly together. The Sunday Times, as summarised by the BBC, says the five were arrested at bases in Syria and Iraq in 2022. The Guardian’s March 2024 report placed their arrests in the UK, while a later review by the human rights organisation TRIAL International dates them to March 2024. Former SAS soldier Jay Cal said in a 2025 interview that military police arrested him at his operational post; he also read accounts of other men being arrested at home. Those accounts do not establish when and where each of the five was arrested. [1] [6] [7] [4]

The Sunday Times says the former soldiers have since left the military and wrote to former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer describing their arrests as “potentially unlawful”. The decision not to bring charges was not a finding that the arrests were unlawful. A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said personnel were entitled to expect investigations to be conducted fairly and professionally, while allegations of wrongdoing should be properly assessed and, where appropriate, investigated.