my point was if he was special forces they (almost) never report "SAS man killed". Instead they report his old regiment. And given the Paras make up a big chunk of the SAS,all the plaudits from high level pols and military and the somewhat sensitive nature of the assignment (being unacknowledged on the ground in a "foreign" war) it made me think he was probably SAS and problaby doing more than "observing".

As sashimi has posted, there are some other options.

One thing is for sure, "they" are not telling the truth.