Five members of the SAS have been arrested over allegations of committing war crimes during deployment in Syria.

The five unnamed personnel were arrested by British military police while in the United Kingdom.

In a statement confirming the arrest, the Ministry of Defence said: “We hold our personnel to the highest standards and any allegations of wrongdoing are taken seriously.

“Where appropriate, any criminal allegations are referred to the service police for investigation.”

The MoD added it could not comment on an active investigation but confirmed the report as news of the arrest had been circulating for some time.

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SAS members are trained to deploy with little notice to tackle risky missions – oftentimes behind enemy lines or in nations where the British Government has no official or confirmed military presence.

Ministers and officials have routinely declined to comment on the elite force’s work since the 1980s.

The director of special forces, the SAS’s most senior officer, is directly accountable to the Defence Secretary and the Prime Minister only.

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