Nine Australian soldiers committed suicide amid disclosure of ‘Afghan dossier’, says...

Nine soldiers have committed suicide in the past three weeks in Australia, where a report was published on the alleged war crimes committed by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.

Among these nine soldiers, eight men and a woman between the ages of 20 and 50, there was a veteran of the Afghan war, Private Shane Holt, who took his own life on November 16, according to the Australian daily Daily Mercury.

There is still no evidence that these people have anything in common with the 39 illegitimate homicides of military and civilians committed in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016 by members of the special operations group, according to the report by the Australian Defense Force (ADF, in the acronym in English).

However, the excessive media attention on the investigation and the dossier, may have had an influence on the action taken by the nine military personnel.

“I think some media outlets painted them all with the same brush and people forgot about the presumption of innocence until guilt was proven, which adds stress to the situation,” commented Neil Wallance, a former infantryman and mental health lawyer. veterans to The Advertiser.

The report of alleged abuses by Australian troops in Afghanistan is based on an examination of more than 20,000 documents and 25,000 images, as well as interviews with 423 witnesses. The document recommends that the Australian government pay damages to the victims’ families, who were not or are no longer combatants.

When the report was published, the Australian Defense Force commander, Angus Campbell, apologized to the people of Afghanistan “for any offense committed by Australian soldiers”.

During the period 2005 to 2016, more than 26,000 Australians served in Afghanistan, including 3,000 soldiers from special operations troops.