Canning's Liberal candidate, former SAS officer, linked to investigation on mutilating Taliban corpses in Afghanistan

Captain Andrew Hastie has been reported to have commanded a unit which allegedly chopped the hands off the corpses of Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. The 32-year-old former SAS officer is a Liberal Party candidate in a major federal by-election.

The alleged incident took place in the Middle Eastern country in 2013. There are differences of opinion on whether the incident can be considered a breach of war rules against mutilating or despoiling corpses.

Corpses of three Taliban fighters, killed in combat, had their hands chopped off by the SAS soldiers. The move was to make sure no fingerprint was available for identification. The alleged incident initiated a defence investigation which has been going on for more than two years now.

Hastie is standing for the West Australian seat of Canning. Hastie commanded around 30 soldiers who were involved in the alleged incident. However, he might not have been present when the incident took place. He was reported to be on the battlefield.

The incident was raised through the military chain of command, which eventually caused the launch of the investigation. It is unclear if Hastie was involved in the chain which reported to the higher authorities.

In a statement, Defence refused to clarify if Hastie is being investigated for the incident. "Investigations continue into an incident of potential misconduct during a combined operation between Afghan National Security Forces and Australia's Special Operations Task Group in Zabul province, Afghanistan, on 28 April, 2013," Fairfax Media quoted the statement, "Defence will not comment further on this matter until investigations are complete."

Hastie said on Friday that he had resigned from the Australian Army. He said there was “no safety net” to protect him from any investigation.

ABC earlier reported Hastie would stand against former Law Society of WA President Matthew Keogh who would be the Labor candidate in Canning. The by-election will be held on Sept 19. If the Liberals lose the Canning seat, many experts believe it may challenge Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s leadership.

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