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The Independent

British spies and special forces soldiers had data leaked in Afghan breach

British spies, special forces soldiers and senior military personnel were among the tens of thousands of people potentially put at risk by the catastrophic Afghan data leak, The Independent understands. The breach, made by a Ministry of Defence official in February 2022, exposed the details of Afghans seeking an escape to the UK because of claimed links to British forces. The huge blunder saw 16,000 Afghans affected by the data breach evacuated to Britain, with some 8,000 still to come, and prompted an unprecedented two-year-long superinjunction preventing the publication of any details. More than 100 names of British government personnel were also exposed by the leak. Defence sources say that these included MI6 spies, members of the SAS, MPs, government ministers, and other senior military figures. Defence secretary John Healey told MPs on Tuesday that 'in a small number of cases, the names of Members of Parliament, senior military officers and government officials were noted as supporting the application'. In a public court hearing in front of a High Court judge on Thursday, Jude Bunting KC said 'it was a matter of surprise to the [media] defendants that the secretary of state was able to report those details we weren't'. He added: 'We can now report those details.' Cathryn McGahey KC, for the government, said that the defence secretary was giving 'urgent consideration' to the wording of an ongoing gagging order on the press, which remains in place. The further revelations come after the Intelligence and Security Committee, an influential group of MPs, demanded answers about why they were not briefed about the Afghan data leak. Lord Beamish PC, chairman of the committee, said that MPs wanted to be provided with the intelligence assessments on which the superinjunction rested for so long. He wanted these to be sent 'immediately' to the committee. And in a statement in response to the Afghan data breach, former armed forces James Heappey said that it was 'gut-wrenching to find out that someone in the MoD had screwed up so awfully', but said the individual was 'incredibly dedicated to those we served with in Afghanistan'. He also said that the department's decision-making on sanctuary applications from former Afghan special forces, known as the Triples, was 'flawed'. He said he 'pushed and pushed with the MoD for clarification in response to what was said in the press, parliament and by campaigners'. 'I said in public what very senior officials and the military had briefed me. It was hugely frustrating that proved to be wrong,' he added.