Defence Force relocates key war crimes witness after blast at her NSW home
A witness in the Brereton Inquiry into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan has had her house targeted in an early morning incident that blew in windows and embedded glass in floors, ceilings and walls.
The Defence Force immediately relocated the witness and her family after the incident because of fears for their safety.
The witness — Captain Louise* — is a former special operations intelligence officer who deployed to Afghanistan in 2012-2013.
Broken window
A blast around 3am at Captain Louise's NSW home prompted Defence to relocate her family. (
Supplied)
New South Wales Police failed to find any suspects, and in responding to a complaint by the witness acknowledged that the investigating officer had "dropped the ball".
Captain Louise said that in November last year, she and her family were woken at 3:15am by several large blasts or crashes.
"I don't know how to describe that noise. It was shatteringly loud. And there was almost like three immediately following one another," she said.
Three windows at the front of the house were shattered, each containing two panes of glass.
"We had wooden floors. It had gouged the wooden floors underneath, it was embedded in the ceiling, over two-and-a-half metres [away].
"It was embedded in the ceiling and embedded all in the wall opposite. It was embedded in a wall immediately adjacent to the window as well. And in some spots, the glass was powder.
"Whatever they did required an awful lot of force."
Captain told about alleged killing of farmers
During her deployment to Afghanistan in 2012-2013, Captain Louise was told by an SAS operator about a mass killing just hours after his patrol had returned to base.
The SAS operator, known as Soldier C, is the former husband of Captain Louise.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-26/defence-relocates-war-crimes-witness-after-blast/100407172