After an investigation into war crimes, an Australian veteran was charged with the murder of an Afghan soldier.

The 41-year old man was taken into custody in New South Wales. AustralianBroadcasting Corp identified him as Oliver Schulz, a former Special Air Service Regiment trooper.

A statement by the Australian Federal Police stated that “it will be alleged that he murdered an Afghan male while deployed to Afghanistan.”

After a 2020 military report, his arrest was the first. It found evidence that Australian troops had unlawfully killed 39 Afghan civilians, farmers, and prisoners.

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According to the report, 19 former and current soldiers who served in Afghanistan from 2005 to 2016 should be investigated.

Schulz could be sentenced to a life imprisonment if convicted.

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In 2020, ABC broadcast helmet footage that showed a soldier named Schulz shooting an Afghan man in a wheatfield in the Uruzgan Province, southern Afghanistan. This was back in 2012.

He is scheduled to appear in court in Sydney within the next few days. A magistrate will decide whether he should be released on bail.

Australia was part NATO-led force that trained Afghan security forces and fought Taliban.

More than 39,000 military personnel were there during the 20 years Australia was present, up to their withdrawal in 2021. 41 of these were killed.