Afghan Panorama accuser linked to Taliban leader behind soldier's death

An Afghan man who accused British special forces of killing civilians in Helmand is related to a Taliban commander involved in the torture and execution of a British soldier, it emerged last night. Habibullah "Abdul" Alizai appeared on BBC Panorama earlier this year, alleging that UK forces killed nine innocent civilians in southern Afghanistan.

What he did not reveal - and what the programme-makers seemingly missed - was his family's direct involvement in the abduction and murder of 20-year-old Scott McLaren - the only British soldier to be captured by insurgents during the UK's decade-long deployment to Helmand.

Highlander McLaren, from Edinburgh, was serving with the 4th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland when he disappeared on July 4, 2011.

He had reportedly left his base in Nahr-e-Saraj in an attempt to recover a pair of night vision goggles, which he had left at a checkpoint two days earlier.

His body was found the next day. It showed signs of brutal torture.

UK military intelligence sources later identified Habibullah's relative, Hajji Muhammad Wali Alizai, as a Taliban associate directly involved in McLaren's murder.

Both men were flagged in internal follow-up investigations.

"Hajji didn't pull the trigger," said a British Army officer from the Special Reconnaissance Regiment who served in Helmand at the time, "but he gave the order.

"We used paid informants, intercepts and ground-level mapping. We were confident he was the organiser."

The officer confirmed that Habibullah and Hajji were related, and both were connected to networks of criminal and insurgent activity.

"Afghan families are big and the Alizai clan is deeply embedded in Helmand," he said. "We knew who they were."

A mission to detain Hajji was mounted, with Afghan special forces taking the lead as the UK began transitioning to Afghan-led security.

"The Afghans were good, mostly reliable. But someone warned him." added the source;

"By the time we moved, he'd gone. Last we heard, he was in Kandahar. Finding him there was nigh on impossible."

Habibullah himself was revealed in 2022 as a suspected narcotics trafficker under Interpol surveillance.

Hajji had previously served on the Helmand provincial council, placed there by his uncle Sher Mohammad Akhundzada - the province's former governor.

Akhundzada, known as SMA, was dismissed by British officials in 2006 for suspected links to Taliban insurgents and drug cartels.

He later rejoined the insurgency and is on record ordering his 4,000-strong militia to fight against coalition forces.

Many members of the Akhundzada family appear on international sanctions lists, some explicitly named as Taliban fighters.

"Habibullah gives the impression of being a harmless old man," the officer said.

"But he wasn't. He was deep into drugs. Hajji was ruthless - intelligent, opportunistic and completely without conscience. He used his government post as a badge of authority."

Following McLaren's death, the Royal Military Police opened an investigation but the case was marked closed within days.

Senior officers reportedly deemed any follow-up operation to bring those responsible to justice too complex, given the drawdown and deteriorating conditions on the ground.

At the 2014 inquest into his death, Wiltshire Coroner David Ridley concluded: "I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Scott was captured by insurgent forces and ultimately executed by them on the morning of July 4. He was unlawfully killed while on active service in Afghanistan."

McLaren had only joined the Army two years earlier.

To this day, the Ministry of Defence has not published the full Board of Inquiry into the circumstances of his abduction and killing.

The Ministry of Defence was contacted for comment.