The Australian Broadcasting Company details a deadly 2012 mission undertaken by Australian special forces at Sara Aw that some believe to be the deadliest war crime committed by Australians in Afghanistan.

According to the interviews and video reviewed by ABC, the mission left 13 unarmed Afghans dead.  The men and boys were harvesting onions in a field when two US military helicopters, carrying the Australian SAS, saw the group scatter from the approaching aircraft.

The two squads, designated Zulu 1 and Zulu 2, along with their Afghan allies, were following a tip that Taliban were operating in the area.  As Zulu 2 landed to clear a nearby village, Zulu 1 circled the field as the men and boys fled. 

The Australian SAS officer in charge instructed the US air crew to circle the fleeing Afghans, firing the door gun to cut off the paths of the men and boys.  The people on the ground took cover in fields, under carts and around tractors.

The helicopter then lands, disembarking the soldiers who also had a combat dog with them.  An NCO with the unit fires at the tractor as soon as he hits the ground, killing at least one person.

Video shows the dog tracking a boy into a field, where another soldier asks the dog’s handler, “You want me to drop this cock?”  The dog handler responds that he doesn’t know, after which the soldier fires three shots, point blank, at the teenager who’s holding prayer beads.

Afghans who witnessed the scene said the Australian soldiers hunted down the unarmed men and boys, killing each of them, most of whom were around the tractor or sitting in a crop of harvested onions.

Another Afghan man, captured by a soldier, was led back to the tractor and became agitated when he saw the dead villagers.  While soldiers claimed the man lunged for a soldier’s gun, witnesses said he was shot in cold blood.

Neither Australian or Afghan law enforcement or military would comment on the ABC investigation, claiming they cannot comment on an ongoing investigation.