US EditionSpies and special forces among more than 100 Britons whose details were included in Afghan data leak
UNITED KINGDOM, JUL 17 – The breach exposed nearly 19,000 Afghan applicants' data and forced a secret UK relocation scheme costing up to £850 million to protect those at risk, officials said.
- On Thursday, a data leak that led to the resettlement of thousands of Afghans in the UK also exposed the identities of more than 100 British spies and special forces personnel, news organisations reported.
- A defence official in February 2022 sent an insecure email that leaked personal data of nearly 19,000 Afghans, and the breach was kept secret by a superinjunction until this week.
- Around 4,500 Afghans have been relocated via the secret Afghanistan Response Route launched in April 2024, costing about £400 million so far with a projected total of £850 million.
- Following the superinjunction lift, Defence Secretary John Healey said he was `deeply uncomfortable` with the breach and offered a `sincere apology` on behalf of the British Government, noting that a small number of MP, military and official names were included in the leaked file.
- Amid legal fallout, Lord Beamish said the committee questioned why breach details were withheld while the government plans to relocate thousands of Afghans at an estimated £7 billion over five years.
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Although the government had tried to keep some aspects of the case secret, a court ruling allowed the media to report on it.
In 2022, the ministry accidentally sent a spreadsheet to the wrong address, listing the names of thousands of Afghans who feared Taliban revenge.
Personal information of more than 100 British citizens, including special forces spies and soldiers (SAS), is among the data committed in one of the most serious incidents of information ever recorded in the United Kingdom, according to more British media, including BBC reports Reuters.
After Afghans, over 100 British spies exposed due to 'mistakenly shared' details
The leak came to light after a High Court judge in London lifted a rare and sweeping injunction on Tuesday that had previously barred any reporting on an email inadvertently sent by a Ministry of Defence official in February 2022
The British data scandal about the war in Afghanistan is expanding: after it became known that sensitive information was leaked to thousands of Afghans, it now becomes clear that British spies are also affected.
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