Government will 'robustly defend' any compensation claims from thousands of Afghans whose lives were put at risk by massive data breach
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the Government would 'robustly defend' any legal action or bid for compensation, adding these were 'hypothetical claims'.
It has also been reported that the MoD will not proactively offer compensation to those affected.
The data breach, which saw details of 18,714 applicants for the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap) scheme released in 2022, prompted an unprecedented gagging order amid fears the Taliban could target would-be refugees for reprisals.
It also saw the establishment of a secret scheme, the Afghanistan Response Route (ARR), to bring some of those affected to the UK.
But the MoD spokesman pointed to an independent review which found there is now little danger that appearing on the leaked spreadsheet would be enough to result in being targeted by the Taliban.
Hundreds of data protection claims are expected to be lodged, with the High Court hearing earlier this week that a Manchester-based firm already had several hundred prospective clients.
Previous Afghan data breaches led to the MoD compensating people whose details were leaked.
Earlier this month, before the superinjunction preventing reporting of the 2022 leak was lifted, armed forces minister Luke Pollard announced £1.6 million in compensation for a separate incident involving the release of Afghan nationals' data.
Mr Pollard said the MoD had agreed to pay up to £4,000 to each of the 265 people whose details were mistakenly copied into emails sent by the Government in September 2021.
That breach also saw the Government fined £350,000 by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
But the ICO has said it will take no further action in relation to the larger 2022 breach, with Information Commissioner John Edwards saying there was 'little we could add in this case' given the 'high degree of public scrutiny' the MoD was already facing.
In total, the Government expects 6,900 people to be brought to the UK under the ARR scheme, with costs reaching £850 million.
Along with the Afghan nationals, the breach saw details of more than 100 British officials compromised, including special forces and MI6 personnel.
It comes as the Mail revealed that Taliban warlords are on a vengeful killing spree against hundreds of Afghans after the Government lost the top secret database.
One man was shot by a gunman who stepped from an alley on Monday and fired four bullets at close range into his chest – one of three assassinations in the past seven days.
The brother of the former interpreter (above) was beaten by the Taliban demanding to know where his brother was hiding and if he had worked for the UK
Panic has been spreading since Tuesday when Afghans were officially informed their personal details had been lost in the UK's worst ever data blunder, putting 100,000 'at risk of death'.
Thousands received 'notifications' from His Majesty's Government saying sorry, and adding: 'We understand this news may be concerning.'
It is not known if the Taliban actually has the database, which includes names of Afghans who helped the UK , as well as members of the British intelligence community, it is understood.
But one Afghan soldier, who fled to Britain for fear of retribution, believes his brother was gunned down in the street this week because the militant group was aware of his affiliation to the UK.
He said: 'If or when the Taliban have this list, then killings will increase – and it will be Britain's fault. There will be many more executions like the one on Monday.'
The Mail has seen a dossier of more than 300 murders that include those who worked with the UK and some who had applied for the UK scheme, the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP).
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