The British Special Air Service and the European country’s other special forces have operated clandestinely in Nigeria and 18 other nations over the past 12 years, research has revealed.

It could be recalled that in 2012, a group of SBS commandos attempted and failed to rescue a Briton and an Italian held by an Islamist group in Nigeria.

The British SAS also operated secretly in Algeria, Estonia, France, Oman, Iraq, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Cyprus, Pakistan, Somalia, the Philippines, Russia, Syria, Ukraine, Yemen and most recently Sudan.

In Mail, UK Special Forces provided non-combat support during French military action against jihadi groups in Mali. They also trained Nigerian, Moroccan, and Cameroonian soldiers and collated intelligence threat assessments in response to increasing instability in the Sahel region.

The elite military units don’t have UK ministers publicly certifying their operations, thus, they operate covertly. But, based on media leaks, a research organisation called Action on Gun Violence has compiled a list of their operations from 2011, the AOAV added in a May 23, 2023 report titled, Britain’s Special Forces on service in at least 19 countries since 2011.

It gives the impression that the prime minister and defence secretary frequently send personnel of the SAS, Special Boat Service, and Special Reconnaissance Regiment on dangerous operations, usually when Britain is not at war, the Guardian UK reported.

Special forces have been particularly active in Syria, with reports of them entering the country in 2012 to help rebel groups fighting against President Bashar al-Assad. They are also reported to have been sent in 2013 to identify military targets in advance of a bombing campaign that MPs ended up voting against.

But because of the fixation with secrecy, Matt Tonroe, a member of the SAS, was officially identified as a member of the Parachute Regiment when he was murdered in Syria in 2018. It was later discovered that he had actually been killed by his US colleague’s grenade, not an improvised explosive device.

Although Britain is not an official participant in the conflict, 50 members of the UK special forces were named as being present in Ukraine earlier this year in leaked Pentagon documents. The numbers for the US and France were listed as being 14 and 15, respectively. Nonetheless, their goal was left unstated.

The lengthy list of deployments, according to the report’s authors, occurred despite a lack of control. Even though special forces can be deployed without the Commons’ consent and are not subject to parliamentary committee investigations, etiquette requires that MPs vote to authorise a war.

After a terrorist massacre of 38 people, including 30 Britons, at a beach hotel in Tunisia in June 2015, it was once claimed that David Cameron, the country’s then-prime minister, had granted the SAS “carte blanche” to apprehend or murder Middle Eastern Islamic leaders.

“The extensive deployment of Britain’s Special Forces in numerous countries over the past decade raises serious concerns about transparency and democratic oversight,” said Iain Overton, the executive director of AOAV. “The lack of parliamentary approval and retrospective reviews for these missions is deeply troubling.”

Yet in March, a public investigation into claims that the SAS committed 54 summary executions in Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011—typically during night raids—began. Guys were taken away from their families and shot dead several times after being accused of producing a weapon.

Following the start of violence in Sudan in April, special forces helped evacuate two dozen British diplomats and their families to an airfield north of the capital when they were in danger of being attacked.

At the time, current defence secretary and Tory MP Ben Wallace commended the military effort. The operation, according to the Ministry of Defence, also included troops of the Royal Marines, the RAF, and the Parachute Regiment, although it omitted special forces.

Special forces routinely take part in both exfiltrations and hostage rescues. A couple detained in the Philippines was successfully released in 2019 in a mission that UK special forces assisted in preparing and for which it trained the country’s military. In 2012, a group of SBS commandos attempted and failed to rescue a Briton and an Italian held by an Islamist group in Nigeria.

The last time SAS members were referenced in the media was in 2014 when a tabloid claimed they were “on hand” to guard the safety of British athletes at the Sochi Winter Olympics.

Cooldowntemper:
Wahalawahala na you I dey wait patiently to defend ya almighty Nigeria and ass lick your politicial pay masters .

I wan enter you today

wahahlawahala:
mtn don dash this one 10mb to constitute nuisance.. SMH 🙄

Cooldowntemper:



Another unintelligent RONU wailing addict

wahahlawahala:
guess who is your next official president in few days😂😂😂... I can't wait to see u loosers create thousands of threads weeping profusely on that day🤣

Cooldowntemper:


Have you RONU today ?

wahahlawahala:
yes ofcause, ronu is a natural process every normal human must perform ,but it's so obvious your parents no ronu before den make u.. na y u dey constitute nuisance here😂

Cooldowntemper:


I'm happy you have done your daily ronu abulition.

Now begin to wipe your head on cement and be shouting Bola must be president.

Wipe it harder and harder while shouting on ya

On ya , on ya man

Man
Mandate
We
Shall

Just be wiping it till 4pm them quote me

wahahlawahala:
abulition .... Illiterate 😂😂😂

Cooldowntemper:


Accommodating professor

What is the meaning of what you wrote in the screenshot below.

Kunle no dey wash yansh but e dey shout for people when no dey Wear boxers

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

wahahlawahala:
oh na still this jobless Kunle man 😂😂 u really get problem to be honest, so u have another 30 posts on this account to discuss Tinubu and SW , u really need help.. and stop stalking me🙄

Cooldowntemper:


Accommodating professor don dey stammer


You have not answered my question

wahahlawahala:
take your question to your Messiah Obi.. na him dey take advice from mad people.. not me

Cooldowntemper:
Nigeria is UK play ground.

Why are you complaining? Allow your politicians finish you