Former SAS captain and Liberal candidate for WA federal seat of Canning says he was not at the scene of ‘very, very sad and tragic consequence of war’

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The former SAS captain and Liberal candidate for the West Australian federal seat of Canning, Andrew Hastie, says he was cleared of blame at the time of the accidental killing of two Afghan boys by a US helicopter crew.

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Hastie was on the ground during the 2013 engagement and soldiers under his command were in contact with the US Apache helicopter, he said in a statement on Tuesday.

The matter was investigated by the Australian Defence Force and no adverse findings were made.

Hastie said the shooting was a very sad and tragic consequence of war.

“It’s an incident that I know all involved hold deep regret, including myself,” he said.

The Canning byelection, which was caused by the death of Liberal Don Randall, will be held on 19 September. Randall held the seat by an 11% margin.

Last month it was reported a member of a unit commanded by Hastie in Afghanistan had cut off the hands of a dead insurgent to secure his fingerprints.

Hastie has been cleared of any wrongdoing in that incident by the ADF. He has said he was not at the scene when it happened and when he learned of it reported it to his superior officers.

After the Australian reported the second incident on Tuesday, Hastie said in a statement: “Out of respect for the Australians I led overseas I took a position going into this election that I was not going to talk about operational matters … As I have said previously, not everything goes to plan in any aspect of life, let alone in a high-pressure war zone where people are trying to kill you.

“The example reported today of an accidental shooting of two young Afghan civilians from a US Apache helicopter is a very, very sad and tragic consequence of war … I was on the ground during this engagement and soldiers under my command were in communication with the US helicopter that engaged.”

He said the defence department had investigated and no adverse findings were made against ADF personnel.

“Out of concern for the soldiers involved I’m disappointed that my candidacy has brought this issue to the forefront of media attention,” he said.

“I’ve seen these things and I’ve had to have the strength of character, integrity and honour to deal with these incidents and serve my country.”