Australia’s most decorated soldier arrested over war crimes allegations in Afghanistan

NewsWorldAustralasiaAustralia’s most decorated soldier arrested over war crimes allegations in AfghanistanHe was accused of committing war crimes in Afghanistan, including murdering civilians and ordering subordinates to carry out executionsMaroosha Muzaffar Tuesday 07 April 2026 07:26 BSTBookmarkCommentsGo to commentsBookmark popoverRemoved from bookmarksClose popover{"translations":{"comments":"Go to comments","share":"Share","copyLink":"Copy link","bookmark":"Bookmark","removeBookmark":"Remove bookmark"},"showComments":true,"showBookmark":true,"articleId":"b2952730","articleMeta":{"url":"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/australia-afghanistan-ben-roberts-smith-war-crimes-convicted-b2952730.html","title":"Australia’s most decorated soldier arrested over war crimes allegations"}}open image in gallery{"id":"trigger-autogallery-2667","index":0}Ben Roberts-Smith, the 47-year-old disgraced Australian war veteran, has been arrested at Sydney airport and is expected to be charged with five counts of the war crime of murder (Getty Images)On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly dispatch from our international correspondentsGet a weekly international news dispatchEmail*SIGN UPI would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice{"className":"sc-1ge0fwe-0","newsletterData":{"regSourceNewsletter":"IND_On_The_Ground_Newsletter","regTitle":"On The Ground","subscriptionGroup":"on_the_ground","subscriptionGroupId":"14806361-6435-4d19-b06e-05326605fb01","pathPrefix":["/news/world/europe","/news/world/middle-east","/news/world/australasia","/news/world/africa","/asia"],"associatedAuthors":["Bel Trew","Sam Kiley"],"title":"On The Ground newsletter: Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","mobileTitle":"Get a weekly international news dispatch","lengthenedMobileTitle":"Get a weekly dispatch from our international correspondents","imageS...