LONDON: Britain’s defence minister on Wednesday said allegations of unlawful killings in Afghanistan being examined by an independent inquiry relate to UK special forces.

The inquiry which opened in March was “now reaching the stage of substantive hearings, and I can confirm that the allegations relate to the conduct of UK Special Forces”, Ben Wallace told parliament in a written statement.

The inquiry is looking at a number of detention operations between 2010 and 2013 and how allegations of wrongdoing were investigated by military police, in particular whether there were any cover-ups.

Haddon-Cave said on Wednesday that he had recently visited the office of the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, although he did not elaborate.