Nine Australian Troops Committed Suicide in Last 3 Weeks Amid War Crimes Scandal, Reports Say

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Nine Australian servicemen have taken their own lives over the last three weeks, the Daily Mail newspaper reported on Monday, amid the scandal caused by the recent report on extrajudicial killings by Australia's elite troops in Afghanistan.

Last week, the Australian Defence Force presented the report by Australian Supreme Court Justice Paul Brereton, which recommended an investigation of 19 soldiers for the deaths of 39 civilians between 2005 and 2016.

According to the report, the killings were a part of the initiation ritual in the elite Special Operations Task Group.

According to the news outlet, eight male and one female soldiers, aged from 20 to 50, have committed suicide in the past three weeks, making it an unprecedented event in the country's military history.

While there is no information about any of the late servicemen having anything to do with the crimes listed in the aforementioned report, some believe the inquiry and the accompanying reporting by the media could be partially responsible.

The release of the report has prompted widespread condemnation in Australia and across the globe.