Decorated Australian veteran loses defamation appeal over Afghanistan killings

Ben Roberts-Smith arrives at the Federal Court in Sydney, Australia (Rick Rycroft/AP)

Australia’s most decorated living war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith has lost his appeal of a civil court ruling that blamed him for unlawfully killing four unarmed Afghans.

Meanwhile a veterans’ advocate called on prosecutors to speed up their investigations of war crime allegations in Afghanistan that have left innocent soldiers under a cloud of suspicion.