Two Australian SAS troopers during Exercise Dawn Kookaburra. Photo: AU Department of Defence
Australian media outlets have reported that an Special Air Service (SAS) Soldier was stabbed during a fight in an Iraqi brothel. Australian Defence[sic] Force personnel are currently serving in Iraq as part of Operation Okra. This being Australia’s current military operations against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
A spokesman for the Defence Minister, Richard Marles, declined to comment, stating they would not make any remarks on “operational matters”.
However, a senior source confirmed a soldier was flown to Germany for “a non-operational injury” and is likely to make a full recovery. The soldier is said to have undergone emergency surgery, but the injuries were not life threatening.
The media was made aware of the situation after rumors began to spread among the special operations community. No information has been released about the cause of the fight, or who the attacker may have been
“This is not the first time in recent years in which an SAS member on operations in the Middle East has become involved in a scandal involving sex and alcohol.
Previously, an SAS member allegedly threatened a female member of another Commonwealth agency with a firearm after they consumed alcohol together.” –The Courier Mail
Although a “brothel” is technically illegal in Iraq, Al Jazeera has spent the last year investigating the hidden world.
The fall out of the Brereton report
Last year, members of the elite SAS announced they were filing a lawsuit after the controversial Brereton report. The report claimed to have “credible information” detailing multiple war crimes in Afghanistan. However, the investigation yielded no charges and the report had been removed from the Department of Defence website.
