SAS: The Shadow War - Trailer

For decades, the SAS has operated beyond public view, its missions shaped by secrecy and its reputation burnished by the rare moments when that secrecy has fallen away. In SAS: The Shadow War, The Independent’s international affairs editor Sam Kiley traces the regiment’s covert campaign against the IRA in Northern Ireland, from the surveillance operations and ambushes of the Troubles to the hard questions that still endure today. Along the way, the Iranian Embassy siege and a deadly operation in Gibraltar reveal how the SAS became both a celebrated and a contested force. Drawing on rare and previously unheard first-hand accounts from former operatives and those who witnessed the conflict up close, this eight-part documentary series explores a war fought largely out of sight – and the legal battle now being waged over how its actions should be judged. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  My gut was telling me something bad was gonna go down. So they caught their weapons, they just opened up with everything they had. I was shot three times, and the third one went straight through me.

• 0:10Sam Kiley?

  Welcome to SAS: The Shadow War. For the first time ever, soldiers, surveillance operators, and commanders from Britain's special forces are breaking their silence.

• 0:20Speaker 02

  Your eyes are fixed on the weapon, not him. Your weapon is trained at his chest, safe to catch off. I was waiting for him to react with a weapon or not.

• 0:28Speaker 03

  The side of the lorry drops, shots were fired. It was an imminent threat to the life of the soldier.

• 0:33Sam Kiley?

  Revealing all about the secret war they fought during the troubles in Northern Ireland.

• 0:38Speaker 04

  So the women had to do all, a lot of sort of training on combat and close-quarter battle, because you would be on your own, on foot, in very hard areas of the city of Belfast.

• 0:49Sam Kiley?

  We'll hear about the famous Gibraltar shootings from the commander on the day. We had authority to use lethal force to protect life. How a surveillance operation went badly wrong.

• 1:01Speaker 03

  And then he just covered the hedge row in petrol, because we're sitting there and this petrol's running down our face, it's all over us. And this lad throws the match into the hedge.

• 1:11Sam Kiley?

  And a soldier's account of the assault on the Iranian embassy.

• 1:15Speaker 05

  There was a sense of comfort when the shooting started, since we've engaged.

• 1:19Sam Kiley?

  And later, we'll discover exactly why these secret soldiers have chosen to speak out now.

• 1:26Speaker 06

  Because after all that time, the wounds that they've suffered, somebody is telling them that they're evil.

• 1:32Speaker 03

  I don't believe I need immunity from criminal proceedings, because I don't believe I've committed any crimes.

• 1:36Speaker 07

  Every soldier who might discharge his weapon and kill somebody is gonna need his lawyer on speed dial.

• 1:43Sam Kiley?

  I'm Sam Kiley, world affairs editor of The Independent. Welcome to SAS: The Shadow War.