SAS and UK spies named in Afghan data breach
The identities of more than 100 British officials, including Special Forces and MI6 members, were endangered in a data violation that risks thousands of Afghan at risk of retaliation.
The last infringement was kept secret with a precautionary measure until Thursday, when the decision was partly abolished by a Supreme Court judge.
This allowed media organizations to announce that detailed case grades in the database contain secret personal data of special forces and spies.
On Tuesday, the government admitted that approximately 19,000 Afghan’s data, which worked with the British during the 20 -year war in Afghanistan and applied for re -placement in the UK.
During the conflict, the Taliban was thought to be under the risk of serious harm and death, as he wanted an ordeal against the British government and employees.
This was a part of a reason called “super junction” of knowledge-a kind of gagging order that prevents the presence of the existence of the measure.
The data violation took place in February 2022, but was not discovered by August 2023, when it stated that the government received the data published on Facebook and released the rest.
BBC Ministry of Defense on Wednesday (MOD) He offered to accelerate a review of the individual’s application And after publishing the data, it brought it to the country – a series of events that the government sources say that it was essentially “blackmail”.
The mode refused to comment on the individual’s actions, but “everyone who came to England under any Afghan displacement plan should go through” solid security controls “to win entry.
The discovery of the violation in 2023 forced the government to secretly establish the Route of Afghanistan (Arr) – a re -settlement scheme for those affected, despite their security, was not mentioned.
The program has already allowed Afghan and family members to be moved to the UK, and at a cost -effective cost, 850 million pounds are expected more than 2,400 people.
The accidental leak was the result of accidentally sending more than 30,000 re -settlement applications to a person outside the government, thinking that someone working at the UK Special Forces Headquarters in London sent data about only 150 people.
After the abolition of Super-Junction on Tuesday, a secondary measure decision personally endangered the revelations about Special Forces and Security Services.
However, on Thursday, it was also abolished that the lawyers representing both mod and a group of media organizations have reached a compromise, which means that journalists can report additional facts.
Defense Secretary John Healey told the Parliament to the Parliament on Tuesday that the violation was a “serious department error” and admitted that it was “only one of many data losses” about Afghan displacement plans.
Shadow Defense Secretary James Cartlidge apologized on behalf of the former conservative government in power when the leak was discovered.
Mode refused to say how many people in Afghanistan may have suffered as a result of data violation. The Taliban government said on Thursday that he had not arrested or watched the Afghans affected by the leak.
But the relatives of the Afghans called leakage He told BBC that they are still afraid for their families in the countryThe intensification of the leakage of the Taliban’s named relative efforts.
A mode spokesman said: “Not commenting on Special Forces’ long -standing policy of consecutive governments.
He continued: “The safety of our staff, especially those in sensitive positions, we take very seriously and we always have appropriate measures to protect their safety.”
