A controversial £60m probe into allegations against Iraq war veterans will be shut down within months.

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said 90% of misconduct cases involving British troops would be dropped, while 20 others would be dealt with by the Royal Navy Police.

It comes after a damning report by the Commons Defence Committee, which said The Iraq Historic Allegations Team (IHAT) had become a "seemingly unstoppable self-perpetuating machine".

Sir Michael said: "This will be a huge relief to hundreds of British troops who have had these unfair allegations hanging over them.

Iraq war claims unit to be shut down

"They have now been freed of that and we will put in place new measures to ensure this never happens again and there are proper safeguards to prevent completely malicious and unfounded allegations being made against our brave servicemen and women."


Meanwhile, army chief of staff Sir Nick Carter hit out at "unscrupulous lawyers making vexatious allegations".

MPs on the Commons Defence Committee said IHAT had "proved to be deaf to the concerns of the Armed Forces, blind to their needs, and profligate with its own resources".

Law firms have exploited the inquiry, the committee said, and the case load topped more than 3,500 despite many having no credible evidence.

Image: Sir Michael hit out at 'malicious' claims against British troops

The inquiry failed to secure any prosecutions.

According to a report presented to the committee, war veterans have been subjected to "deeply disturbing" treatment and the explosion of so-called lawfare has "directly harmed" UK defences.

Sub-committee chairman Johnny Mercer MP said: "Throughout this process there has been an almost total disregard of the welfare of soldiers and their families.

"We need to hold our people in the highest esteem and a repeat of IHAT must never be allowed to happen again."

Top lawyer struck off over Iraq claims

MPs set out a litany of failures about the way the Ministry of Defence, which created IHAT, handled the probe.

Law firms were empowered to generate cases that lacked credibility on an "industrial scale", they said.

And they criticised IHAT for "serious" failings after it handed over more than £110,829 to Iraqi middleman Abu Jamal while he was employed by Public Interest Lawyers (PIL), the defunct firm behind many of the claims.

Phil Shiner, who ran PIL, was struck off for misconduct after acting dishonestly in bringing abuse cases against the army.