LONDON
\nUK special forces have carried out secret operations in 19 countries including Pakistan over the last 12 years, The UK media reported on Tuesday.
\nBased on media leaks, a report by research group Action on Armed Violence lists a range of countries that Britain has sent elite units to since 2011. Operations included hostage rescues, exfiltration, training and protection.
\nIn the Arab world, units were sent to Algeria, Iraq, Libya, Oman, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Units were also sent to Muslim-majority countries Afghanistan, Pakistan and Mali.
\nThe Syrian government was a notable target, with units being sent to the country in 2013 to identify possible locations for bombing ahead of a planned aerial campaign that was voted against in the British Parliament.
\nAOAV said the high-risk missions worldwide were directly ordered by the prime minister or defense secretary, and were kept highly secret.
\nThe report questioned the level of oversight given to the operations. Though acts of war must be approved by the UK Parliament, small-scale special forces operations can be carried out without MPs\u2019 knowledge and are not subject to committee investigations.
\nIn 2015, the SAS had reportedly been given autonomy by then-Prime Minister David Cameron to capture and kill Islamist leaders in the Middle East in the wake of a terror attack in Tunisia that killed 30 Britons in a hotel.
\nEarlier this year, UK special forces were the subject of scrutiny after a public inquiry found that units had carried out more than 50 summary executions of alleged Taliban members in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2011.
\nAOAV Executive Director Iain Overton said: \u201cThe extensive deployment of Britain\u2019s special forces in numerous countries over the past decade raises serious concerns about transparency and democratic oversight.
\n\u201cThe lack of parliamentary approval and retrospective reviews for these missions is deeply troubling.\u201d
\nAccording to AOAV, after the outbreak of violence in Sudan last month UK special forces oversaw the evacuation of a small group of British diplomats and their families from Khartoum, transporting them to an airbase north of the capital.
\nIn a trend that AOAV noted is designed to protect the secrecy of elite operations, credit was given to the Parachute regiment, Royal Marines and Royal Air Force, with no special forces units having been identified for their involvement.
\nIn papers leaked earlier this year, it was also revealed that about 50 special forces members were present in Ukraine amid the Russian invasion.
\nIn response to the AOAV report, a Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: \u201cIt is the longstanding policy of successive governments not to comment on UK special forces.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON UK special forces have carried out secret operations in 19 countries including Pakistan over the last 12 years, The UK media reported on Tuesday. Based on media leaks, a report by research group Action on Armed Violence lists a range of countries that Britain has sent elite units to since 2011. Operations included hostage […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":333094,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-333066","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n