CANBERRA, 26 November 2020, (TON): Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) said on Thursday that Australia has issued termination notices to at least 10 special forces soldiers after The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has released findings from a four-year inquiry into misconduct by its forces in Afghanistan.

According to military report published last week found that at least 19 serving and former Australian Special Forces allegedly committed up to 39 unlawful murders during the conflict in Afghanistan.

None of the 19 soldiers was identified in the report, which was written by a state judge appointed by the inspector-general of defense. The 19 serving and former soldiers have been referred for possible prosecution.

The ABC said 10 soldiers had been formally notified that they would be dismissed. The broadcaster did not identify any of the 10 but said all of them were witnesses or accessories and therefore not among the 19 referred for possible criminal charges.

Those 10 soldiers who got termination notices would have at least 14 days to respond to the notices. It did not say if any of them had legal representation.

Australia’s most senior military official apologized to Afghanistan last week after the release of the report.

Australia has had forces in Afghanistan since 2002, to join the US-led forces that tried to defeat the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.