Britain's SAS heroes are being 'thrown under the bus' by the 'insane hounding' over their service during theNorthern IrelandTroubles, furious veterans have raged.
Elite troops - many of whom are now elderly - face being 'dragged across the coals' over their actions while fighting the IRA decades ago, with the threat of renewed prosecutions.
The backlash comes after an inquest ruled a Special Air Service squad used unjustified force to kill four IRA terrorists - who had used a mounted machine gun to shoot up a police station in 1992.
Meanwhile, the UK Government is in the process of repealing an act which banned inquests and offered conditional amnesty to soldiers who served during the conflict.
But the decision has sparked outrage among serving and former members of the famed 'Who Dares Wins' army regiment, who fear it will see comrades hauled into court and prosecuted with alleged war crimes.
Special forces veteran Phil Campionwas enraged his comrades could be hit by future murder probes over their service.The 56-year-old Staff Sergeant said: 'We're being unfairly hounded. It's insane.
'The government has thrown a shroud of protection around the IRA and completely thrown us under the bus.'
Phil, who served 15 years in the military, five of which were with 22 SAS, and spent about five years on operational tours in Northern Ireland, added: 'There are people who risked their lives to serve who now feel very bitter and twisted about it all.'
Special forces legend Phil Campion, 56, has lashed out and said Northern Ireland veterans are being 'insanely hounded' over their service during the Troubles
It comes as an inquest ruled a Special Air Service squad used unjustified force to kill four IRA terrorists who had used a mounted machine gun to shoot up a police station in 1992 (pictured is the truck with its mounted machine gun, rear)
Peter Clancy, Kevin Barry O'Donnell and Sean O 'Farrell (pictured left to right) were shot dead by SAS soldiers in 1992. They were all members of the IRA and had used a machine gun mounted on a lorry to shoot up a police station
In an unprecedented move, the SAS Regimental Association - which represents regular and reserve units in the SAS - has reportedly rallied against the situation and urged its 5,000-strong membership to write to their MPs.
It is believed almost 200 people have since expressed their anger, with a letter from the association warning: 'Hundreds [of veterans] are ensnared in legacy processes, in many cases facing years of more uncertainty and stress after decades of the same.
The letter said it was 'unsurprising veterans feel unjustly hounded for doing their duty' given there were 'endless avenues for legal appeal and continual changes in government policy', reports the Times.
Phil, from Hampshire, said the focus appeared to be on supporting 'armed terrorists' and their right to life and ignoring the soldiers who were faced a 'lethal threat to their own lives' and were acting under orders.
It comes afteran inquest left more than a dozen Special Air Service soldiers facing the possibility of murder charges.
Northern Ireland's presiding coroner, Mr Justice Michael Humphreys, concluded in February that the SAS's killing of four IRA men in 1992 was unjustified.
Kevin Barry O'Donnell, 21, Sean O'Farrell, 23, Peter Clancy, 19, and Daniel Vincent, 20, were shot dead by the elite soldiers as they arrived in a car park.
Phil, from Hampshire, said the focus appeared to be on the supporting 'armed terrorists' and their right to life and ignoring the soldiers who were faced a 'lethal threat to their own lives'
British soldiers are seen on guard after IRA terrorists attacked the Coalisland police station in 1992
Pictured is the aftermath of the IRA's bomb attack inOmagh in 1998 which claimed the lives of 28 people, including a pregnant mother carrying twins
Before they were gunned down, the group of IRA terrorists hijacked a lorry and welded a machinegun to its tailgate and used it to open fire on Coalisland police station in Co Tyrone.
The judge overseeing the inquest questioned the accuracy of statements provided by SAS soldiers saying their actions were in self-defence.
Judge Humphreys said the operation was not planned and controlled in a way to minimise to the 'greatest extent possible' the need to use lethal force. The UK government is challenging the ruling on the basis that ministers do not believe it reflected the context of the incident.
Hitting out at the ruling today, veteran operator Phil said:'The [IRA] weren't there to tickle people and make the peace, they were there to conduct a terror attack and they failed. They strapped a bloody great machine gun on a truck and opened fire at a police station, what do you expect us to do?'
He added: 'People who play silly games win silly prizes. That's the law of the jungle.'
Phil said prosecutors who had 'spent their lives with their noses buried in a book' had no idea of the danger British troops and their families faced in Northern Ireland, with the ever-present threat of being assassinated by the IRA.
'Every time you walked out that camp in green skin or otherwise you took your life in your hands,' said the retired special forces operator.
Phil said British soldier's were constantly looking over their shoulders while based in Northern Ireland and that it was an 'extremely dangerous place'. Pictured is a British Paratrooper detaining a youth during riots on Bloody Sunday in 1972
'It was an extremely dangerous place with an enemy who was extremely difficult to deal with.
'You had to watch your back the whole time.'
In the letter to special forces veterans, the SAS Regimental Association reportedly said: 'The anger, frustration and embitterment they feel at their treatment will need to be addressed if they are to be persuaded to co-operate with duties reviews and investigations.'
It's understood that dozens of retired special forces servicemen are being investigated over historic incidents.
Meanwhile, the potential number of civil cases by families of IRA militants, inquest and potential future criminal probes could see that number balloon into the hundreds.
Labour is in the process of repealing the 2023 Northern Ireland Troubles Act, passed by the previous Tory administration, which brought an end to civil cases and inquests examining deaths during the Troubles. In 2021 more than 1,000 civil cases were before the courts.
Conservatives also proposed conditional immunity for perpetrators of crimes in exchange for their co-operation with a new 'truth recovery' body.
It believed British forces were responsible for 301 deaths during Troubles out of 3,520.
Pictured are members of theDissident Republican group, which broke away from the Provisional IRA in the 1990s. Members of the organisation do not accept the Good Friday peace deal which ended the conflict in Northern Ireland in 1998
Former military personnel and MPs fear veterans were beingdisproportionately investigated when compared to IRA terrorists, many of whom were granted immunity from prosecution thanks to the Good Friday peace agreement.
Speaking in February,Sir David Davis feared the IRA would be able to 'rewrite the history of Northern Ireland' if British troops were left open to prosecution.
Sir David told the Commons: 'Soldiers will be leaving the Army, not being recruited, if we continue to allow the persecution of soldiers who served in Northern Ireland.
'Last week's coroner's report into the Coalisland shootings in Clonoe, County Tyrone, contained 51 pages of fact and eight pages of naïve speculation that played into the IRA's attempts to rewrite the history of Northern Ireland.
'How without the NI legacy legislation is [the Attorney GeneralLord Hermer] going to prevent that. If he fails, what should be a process of peace and reconciliation will turn into a vindictive, vengeful pursuit of men whose only sin was to serve their country with honour, skill and in the most terrifying conditions. And if we can't, then all our recruiting acts will fail.'
A UK government spokesman said: 'The government recognises the dedicated service and sacrifice of members of the Armed Forces who did so much to keep people in Northern Ireland safe during the Troubles, and is committed to supporting all our veterans. There can be no rewriting of history.
'The approach taken by the previous government through the Legacy Act did nothing to help veterans, and it has been found by the courts to be unlawful.'
