SAS: The Shadow War
SAS: The Shadow War is an eight-part documentary series from The Independent that examines the SAS's covert operations against the IRA in Northern Ireland. Hosted by world affairs editor Sam Kiley, it traces surveillance missions and ambushes during the Troubles, as well as high-profile events like the Iranian Embassy siege and a deadly operation in Gibraltar. The series draws on rare first-hand accounts from former operatives and witnesses to explore how the SAS became both celebrated and contested. It also looks at the ongoing legal battle over how the regiment's actions should be judged.
Episodes
Episode 1 Tethered Goat
Four miles south of Omagh, at the height of the Troubles, the SAS launched an ambush against an IRA unit suspected of carrying out a series of deadly attacks on soldiers.In the first episode of SAS: The Shadow War, The Independent’s world affairs editor Sam Kiley meets ‘George’, the former SAS ground commander who led the operation at Drumnakilly. He reveals how the mission unfolded – and the deci
Episode 2 Heroes and Villains
Two SAS operations, eight years apart, produced radically different legacies. The first made the regiment national heroes. The second sparked decades of controversy.In 1980, the world watched as the SAS stormed the Iranian Embassy in London to free its hostages. The daring assault brought the secretive regiment into the public eye – but what did that exposure cost?Eight years later, an SAS operati
Episode 3 Life in a Hedge
For days at a time, SAS operatives lay hidden in freezing hedgerows and fields, watching and waiting. Discovery could mean capture – or death.In this episode of SAS: The Shadow War, The Independent’s world affairs editor Sam Kiley enters the covert surveillance war between British Special Forces and the Provisional IRA. One former soldier recalls a terrifying encounter in South Armagh, when a farm
SAS: The Shadow War - Trailer
For decades, the SAS has operated beyond public view, its missions shaped by secrecy and its reputation burnished by the rare moments when that secrecy has fallen away.In SAS: The Shadow War, The Independent’s international affairs editor Sam Kiley traces the regiment’s covert campaign against the IRA in Northern Ireland, from the surveillance operations and ambushes of the Troubles to the hard qu
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