Afghan data breach unmasked UK spies, special forces: reports

LONDON: The details of more than 100 Britons, including spies and special forces personnel, were included in a massive data breach involving thousands of Afghans, UK media reported on Thursday.

The information was included in the mistakenly released spreadsheet, British newspapers reported, citing unnamed defence sources.

The leak was only revealed to the public earlier this week after news blackout imposed by the previous Conservative government was finally lifted.

The ministry of defence did not immediately respond to a request for comment from AFP. But reports in the British media, including the Guardian newspaper and BBC, said members of Britain´s intelligence service and special forces were among those listed on the spreadsheet.

Britain´s government disclosed on Tuesday that a UK official had accidentally leaked a document containing the names and details of almost 19,000 Afghans who had asked to be relocated to the UK.

It happened in February 2022, just six months after Taliban fighters seized Kabul, Labour´s Defence Secretary John Healey told parliament.

The breach and the resettlement plan to protect those involved from potential repercussions only came to light after a court-issued super-gag was lifted.

The nearly two-year-long court ban secured by the previous Conservative government prevented any media reporting of the leak.

In addition, parliament was not briefed and there was no public knowledge of the resettlement plan and the costs involved.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said that Tory ministers have “serious questions to answer” over the secret resettlement plan while parliamentary Speaker Lindsay Hoyle said the affair raised significant constitutional issues”.

Some 900 Afghans and 3,600 family members have since been brought to Britain or are in transit under the programme known as the Afghan Response Route, at a cost of around £400 million ($535 million), Healey said.

Applications from 600 more people have also been accepted, bringing the estimated total cost of the scheme to £850 million.

They are among some 36,000 Afghans who have been accepted by Britain under different schemes since the August 2021 fall of Kabul.