The Australian Federal Police said they arrested a 47-year-old former Australian soldier, who was widely named in local media as Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith.

“The victims were not taking part in hostilities at the time of their alleged murder in Afghanistan,” federal police commissioner Krissy Barrett said.

“It will be alleged the victims were shot by the accused, or shot by subordinate members acting on the orders of the accused.”

A former member of the Special Air Service Regiment, Roberts-Smith was once lauded as Australia’s most distinguished living war hero.

But his reputation took a major hit in 2018, when a series of newspaper reports first linked him to the murder of unarmed Afghan prisoners by Australian troops, which he denied.

Those reports would eventually trigger an ongoing police investigation into alleged war crimes carried out by Australian soldiers.