The guns may have largely fallen silent after the Good Friday Agreement, but the battle over what happened during the Troubles is far from over.

In the final episode of SAS: The Shadow War, The Independent’s international affairs editor Sam Kiley examines the legacy now confronting the soldiers who fought Britain’s secret war. Former SAS commanders describe the strain of decades-old investigations and argue that the state has failed those it once sent into danger.

But the families of those killed are still searching for answers of their own. As veterans, journalists and former commanders confront the same unresolved past from very different sides, the series asks whether truth, justice and closure can ever be reconciled, or whether Northern Ireland’s shadow war is still being fought today.

Subscribe to The Independent All Access Membership and unlock all eight episodes for just £1

https://www.independent.co.uk/subscribe

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As the peace process gathered pace in Northern Ireland, the war on the ground did not simply stop.

In episode seven of SAS: The Shadow War, The Independent’s world affairs editor Sam Kiley hears how the mission changed as political negotiations moved closer to a deal. Former SAS commanders describe hunting an IRA sniper team, mounting a huge surveillance operation and, increasingly, being told that restraint mattered as much as force.

One commander recalls warning his men that, in the context of the peace process, the death of an IRA member could carry consequences far beyond the battlefield.

As the Good Friday Agreement approached, the episode asks how soldiers adapted when winning the fight was no longer the only objective, and whether the shadow war helped bring the conflict to an end.

Subscribe to The Independent All Access Membership and unlock all eight episodes for just £1

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In June 1991, an SAS unit lay in wait in the village of Coagh, County Tyrone, after intelligence suggested an IRA team was preparing to assassinate an off-duty soldier. Within seconds of the gunmen arriving, three men were dead.

In episode six of SAS: The Shadow War, The Independent’s world affairs editor Sam Kiley meets ‘David’, the former SAS commander who planned the operation. He reveals how a British soldier was used as a decoy, how the trap was set and how the decision to open fire unfolded in a matter of seconds.

Decades of legal scrutiny followed. Alongside another extraordinary SAS encounter involving Bernadette Devlin, the episode asks the question at the heart of these operations: when do you arrest, and when do you shoot?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.