Latest news with #special forces
The Independent
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
British spies and special forces identities exposed in Afghan data leak
A data leak that led thousands of Afghans to be resettled in the U.K. after their safety was jeopardized because they assisted forces against the Taliban also exposed the identities of British spies and special forces, news organizations reported Thursday. U.K. media reported that the names of more than 100 special forces troops, MI6 spies and military officers were part of the leak. A person with knowledge of the events confirmed to The Associated Press that 'a small number of special forces personnel' names were leaked. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the sensitive nature of the information. The revelation followed a London judge's order Tuesday to lift a so-called super injunction that prevented any reporting on an email inadvertently sent by a defense official in February 2022 that included personal information of nearly 19,000 Afghans who had applied to come to the U.K. The Afghans, who worked with Western forces as fixers, translators or served in the internationally backed Afghan army, applied under a program to bring some to the U.K. because they faced retribution. The British government only became aware of the leak when some of the data was posted on Facebook 18 months later by someone who threatened to publish the whole list. A secret program was then launched to relocate Afghans to the U.K. When High Court Judge Martin Chamberlain lifted the rare and controversial super injunction, which also prevented reporting on existence of the injunction itself, he allowed information to be reported on the Afghans. Defense Secretary John Healey apologized Tuesday in Parliament on behalf of the British government and said a small number of names of people who supported the applications, including members of Parliament, senior military officers and government officials, were listed on the document. While Chamberlain lifted the super injunction, he had barred reporting that would show members of British forces and spies had also been on the list. Media groups sought a modification of the judge's order Thursday after The Sun tabloid, which was not a party to the case and not subject to the injunction, published information about the British identities being exposed. News of the blunder has become a scandal because the government went to the extreme lengths to hide it from the public while relocating thousands of people. Some 4,500 Afghans — 900 applicants and approximately 3,600 family members — have been brought to Britain under the program, and about 6,900 people are expected to be relocated by the time it closes, at a total cost of about 850 million pounds ($1.1 billion). The government said it was closing the program after an independent review found little evidence the leaked data would expose Afghans to a greater risk of retribution from the Taliban. The review said the Taliban had other sources of information on those who had worked with the previous Afghan government and international forces. Critics, however, said thousands of people who helped British troops as interpreters or in other roles could be at risk of torture, imprisonment or death. Sean Humber, a lawyer who has represented Afghan claimants, said the 'catastrophic' data breach had caused 'anxiety, fear and distress' to those affected. Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesman for the Taliban government of Afghanistan, said the supreme leader had declared a general amnesty for everyone that prevented anybody being arrested, killed, or targeted, he told The Associated Press. 'Intelligence agencies do not need to monitor such people, who have already been pardoned, and all documents and information related to them are available here," he said in a WhatsApp message. 'Any rumors and gossip only serve to intimidate those individuals and cause fear and anxiety to their families.' British soldiers were sent to Afghanistan as part of an international deployment against al-Qaida and Taliban forces in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. At the peak of the operation, there were almost 10,000 U.K. troops in the country, mostly in Helmand province in the south. Britain ended combat operations in 2014, and its remaining troops left Afghanistan in 2021 as the Taliban swept back to power, two decades after they were ousted. The Taliban's return triggered chaotic scenes as Western nations rushed to evacuate citizens and Afghan employees.
Sky News
6 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News
Spies and special forces among more than 100 Britons whose details were included in Afghan data leak
Personal details of spies and special forces were included in a massive data leak that led to thousands of Afghans being secretly relocated to the UK. Information about more than 100 Britons was contained in the breach. Defence sources have said that details of MI6 spies, SAS and special forces personnel were included in the spreadsheet, after they had backed Afghans who had applied to be brought to the UK. It comes after the personal information of nearly 19,000 people who applied for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap), was released "in error" in February 2022 by a defence official. Please refresh the page for the latest version.
The Independent
7 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Betrayal after betrayal: Afghan special forces abandoned by Britain had details leaked in MoD data breach
Hundreds of Afghan special forces soldiers betrayed by Britain had their details leaked in a major data breach before being left in the dark about the potential threat to their lives by the Taliban, The Independent can reveal. The leak in February 2022 involved the names and contact information of 18,700 Afghans being shared 'in error' by a Ministry of Defence (MoD) official and prompted a top secret operation to scramble thousands to safety in Britain. Among the names were members of two specialist units, known as the Triples, whose soldiers have faced torture and death by the Taliban because of their role training and fighting side-by-side with British forces, as revealed by this publication. The Independent spearheaded a campaign urging the government to grant members of the Triples sanctuary in Britain after many were left stranded and in danger, following the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in August 2021. Now it has emerged that around half of the commandos initially identified for relocation to the UK were affected by the breach, which became the subject of a draconian superinjunction amid fears the dataset could fall into the hands of the Taliban. The Triples members only knew about the blunder as the legal order was lifted on Tuesday after an extraordinary two-year legal battle gagging the British press. Hundreds of Triples soldiers, along with their families, have been brought to the UK, but there are fears many have been left behind in Afghanistan, where their lives are still at risk. Major General Charlie Herbert, who served alongside the Triples in Afghanistan, has urged the government to spell out how many have made it to the UK and how many are still in limbo. He described the data leak episode as a "dereliction of duty" by the government, and questioned whether a superinjunction should ever have been put in place. 'I can't believe the data breach happened. I'm really worried that nobody was made aware of this. There would have been people in Afghanistan on that list, not aware that that list had been shared and could have been in the hands of the Taliban,' he said. 'What was the purpose of that injunction, because the information had leaked? It was already on social media in Afghanistan, so the only impact it had was on the media's ability to reported,' he added. Ex-Tory veterans' minister, Johnny Mercer, said: 'The whole thing is appalling, it's time to stop the deceit and do the right thing by these poor folk. 'The MoD need to extract the remaining Triples. There are enough subject matter experts out there to help them identify them, and then consider where we go from there.' It emerged in court documents submitted in early 2024, as part of the superinjunction case, that around half of those Triples commandos who would be brought to the UK had had their data leaked by the government. In a witness statement, the head of Afghan resettlement, Natalie Moore, said the MoD would 'retake 2,000 eligibility decisions for applicants claiming a connection to UK special forces, which include applications from former members of the Triples, of which around 50 per cent are affected people'. As of this month, 300 Afghans with links to specialist units have been brought to the UK or are on the way, and 1,800 are still to come. Daniel Carey, a partner at legal firm DPG, which has represented Triples, questioned why those at risk were not notified earlier. He said: 'We already know from many Arap cases that government assessments of Taliban risk are unreliable - my clients have been detained and tortured despite government assessments that the risk to them was low. 'Afghans in the UK are worried about the impact on their families and pending family member applications.' The units were set up, paid and trained by the British, but soldiers from the two units had been denied relocation through the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap). The scheme promised to relocate Afghans directly employed by, or who worked closely alongside, British forces and who are at risk of reprisals. The Independent raised the plight of the Triples in November 2023 - three months after officials first became aware of the leak. Following our investigation, the MoD admitted its decision-making was 'not robust' and announced a review of around 2,000 applications to Arap. The High Court later heard that one UK special forces officer oversaw the blanket rejection of 1,585 cases during the summer of 2023. Mr Carey said it was 'incredible' that, a year after the data breach, another military official had overseen a sweeping refusal of applications. Last week, the High Court found that defective decision-making resulted in hundreds of Afghan special forces who served with the British being wrongly rejected for sanctuary and abandoned to the Taliban. Mr Carey said: 'Our clients have experienced years of delays at risk of Taliban reprisal waiting for lawful decisions. ' The government's refusal to notify those affected of the decisions in their cases (now reversed) led to further delays. Now we know that the whole time they have also been put at risk due to the massive data leak. 'Many Triples are still in Afghanistan, nearly four years after applying, and are seemingly now at greater risk than ever. I hope that the decisions will now follow swiftly.' On top of the 2,000 initial applications reviewed, up to 2,500 extra cases have been identified for re-examination after the MoD realised the significance of rediscovered payroll data.
