No shoot-to-kill missions against IRA, says former SAS officer

A former officer with the Army's Special Air Service (SAS) has denied it was involved in shoot-to-kill missions against the IRA during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. George Simm had remained silent about his time in Northern Ireland for almost 50 years, but has now accused the government of abandoning veterans in its legislation to deal with the legacy of the conflict.

He served during the 1970s and 80s and was involved in hundreds of operations, including an SAS ambush in which three IRA men were killed. The government said the Troubles Bill, which seeks to deal with unresolved legacy of the decades-long violent conflict, "includes effective safeguards for any veteran" .

The special forces unit of the British Army was involved in scores of the most controversial killings during the conflict and while the majority of its victims were IRA members it also killed civilians. While no official numbers are available for killings carried out by the SAS, according to Simm the unit arrested more people than it killed.