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Daily Mail
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Revenge of the Taliban continued: Warlords now arresting Afghans trying to check British government website at internet cafes to see if their details lost in UK's worst ever data breach
Afghans said to have applied for sanctuary in Britain are being arrested as they try to use the UK government 's website to check if their details were on the leaked dataset. At least five, including former members of the Triples Special Forces, have been held as the Taliban targets internet cafes. The Ministry of Defence sent out an email, to those whose data was suspected of being compromised, apologising. It was followed by a second email with a link for those who had risked their lives for the UK to confirm if they their details provided when they applied for the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) were included. Those whose details were breached received a message on a red background confirming they are a victim of the blunder, while those whose data was not part of the leak received a message on green. But Afghans – and campaigners in the UK – warn that they believe the Taliban is using this to arrest those who worked for Britain as they carry out the necessary checks. Many Afghans do not have Wi-Fi at home and are forced to use internet cafes which are in the major cities and towns. The Taliban hunting those who worked for UK are said to have stepped-up the monitoring of the cafes in recent days. The Mail knows the cities the arrests have taken place in but is not naming them. At least five men and two women are reported to have been arrested while checking their emails. British lawyers and campaigners have sent out warnings to their clients in hiding telling them to stay away from the cafes. Former frontline interpreter Wazir, 38, said: 'We are aware of the arrests. Unfortunately, those whose data may have been leaked want to check and have gone to the cafes. I am told they may have been arrested, with the proof that they worked beside the British in front of them (on the screens).' The details of Wazir, who worked for five years with UK forces, together with that of his family are on the list but he said he had been able to confirm that on the MOD website from his home. 'Many do not have Wi-Fi and this makes them vulnerable,' he said. 'The Taliban has the technology from China also to monitor and track our phones so we know how vulnerable that makes us. 'We are terrified our data entrusted to Britain will be used to hunt us down. Since news of the leak, I have moved my family's hiding place and will do so again next week.' In a rare official announcement yesterday, the Taliban did not confirm or deny it had the dataset but claimed it already had the details of those who had worked for the UK and US, including biometrics, as they were left behind during the chaotic pullout in August 2021. It was reported yesterday that up to ten former members of the Afghan forces had been killed by the Taliban near the border with Iran and Pakistan. The Mail's report revealing Taliban assassins had murdered at least ten, who may have helped the West, in the days after the data leak was revealed. Four are said to have been killed in one ambush. The MOD said: 'The independent Rimmer Review concluded that it is highly unlikely that merely being on the spreadsheet would be grounds for an individual to be targeted, and this is the basis on which the court lifted its super injunction last week. The review also found that the Taliban already had access to a wealth of data. 'The Taliban Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement last week announcing an amnesty for individuals named as part of the data breach, declaring those named it would not face persecution. 'We continue to urge the Taliban to honour their public amnesty towards members of the former Government and special forces.' After the Daily Mail was the first newspaper in the world to discover the data breach, in August 2023, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) mounted a cover-up and successfully hushed up our exclusive. They obtained a superinjunction and ever since then, cloaked by the unprecedented news blackout, ministers have been clandestinely running one of the biggest peacetime evacuation missions in modern British history to rescue people the UK had imperilled: smuggling thousands out of Afghanistan and flying them to Britain at vast cost, with taxpayers being neither asked nor informed. Meanwhile secret hearings in the High Court have heard how Parliament has been deliberately kept oblivious – or even 'misled', as a judge was told. So far 18,500 Afghans whose data was lost have been flown to Britain or are on their way in taxpayer-funded jets. A total of 23,900 are earmarked for arrival. They are living in MOD homes or hotels until permanent homes are found. More than 70,000 others will be left behind in Afghanistan and will have to fend for themselves against vengeful Taliban warlords. Incredibly, hundreds of the Afghans rescued by the Government are now poised to sue the UK for leaking their data in the first place – potentially adding a further £1billion compensation bonanza to the colossal costs of the rescue and rehousing mission.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Revealed: Taliban kills 10 Afghans who helped the West in days after the data leak disaster
Taliban assassins have murdered at least ten Afghans who helped the West in the days since the Government revealed data of thousands who worked for the UK had been leaked. Four were killed in one execution this weekend, their bodies dumped in a ditch in a field, while another four have been killed separately after being forced out of Iran where they had been hiding. It is unclear if any of the dead were among the 100,000 'at risk of death' impacted by the data breach but the executions mark a dramatic increase in killings. Campaigners were checking reports the four killed in Badakhshan, some 200-miles north of the capital Kabul, were ex-Afghan Special Forces who had fought beside the UK and its allies in the 20-years of war with the Taliban. If correct, they say, one or more may have applied for relocation under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) – meaning their details could have been among those leaked. Meanwhile, concerned British lawyers for Afghans hiding in Iran while their cases go through the courts in London or awaiting a decision from ARAP were urgently trying to verify if their clients are among those killed after being sent back to Afghanistan. Among the harrowing stories coming out on Sunday was the shooting on a crowded street in Kandahar. A bleeding man was filmed making a phone call naming his Taliban killer. He died soon afterwards. It is not known if the Taliban actually has the database (pictured), which contains the details of those who worked for the UK Hours later, a former military commander, who served beside US forces, was also shot dead taking the known total of killings in recent days to ten. On Saturday, the Mail revealed how vengeful warlords have embarked on a killing spree. One of the victims was the brother of a former Afghan soldier, who fled to Britain and is said to be on the dataset. His family believe the killing was linked directly to the soldier's work for the UK. It is not known if the Taliban actually has the database, which contains the details of those who worked for the UK. Defence sources say it also exposes members of the British intelligence community and Special Forces. The Taliban has been quoted as claiming to have obtained it, since the data leak was revealed last Tuesday when the High Court lifted a super-injunction which had placed a two-year news blackout on the scandal. Former interpreter Faiz, 39, who spent five years on the frontlines beside UK forces, said: 'Everyone is terrified. 'Arrests and killings have increased, it is as if the Taliban is taunting us... surely, the escalation in executions is linked to what has emerged in the UK.' Faiz, who is in hiding with his wife and children, said he had narrowly escaped arrest on Saturday when four heavily armed Taliban fighters came to search the house where he is hiding. He has confirmed his details are on the leaked database and said: 'I am a marked man and will be killed if I am found. 'If the Taliban have the dataset, it will help them find me because of the specific details contained. 'In 2017, I was the translator for British Forces when they questioned a commander. 'He is now free and has posted my details on Facebook demanding I be handed over for "punishment". 'I hope the UK will rescue me before it is too late.' Former translator Rafi Hottak, who was blown-up on the frontlines and now campaigns for those left behind, said: 'The increased killings are linked to the admission by Britain it has lost the dataset. 'We do not know for sure if the Taliban has the data from the leak but we do know some of those named have been executed.'
Daily Record
3 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Record
First Minister not informed after massive UK Gov data leak
Defence Secretary John Healey confirmed a super injunction banning the reporting of the Ministry of Defence fiasco was to be lifted last week. A massive data leak and a secret scheme to bring more than 18,000 at-risk Afghans to the UK was kept hidden from Cabinet Ministers and the Scottish Government. Defence Secretary John Healey confirmed a super injunction banning the reporting of the Ministry of Defence fiasco was to be lifted last week. He revealed that the personal details of thousands of Afghans who had applied to resettle in the UK after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan had been leaked in 2022. They had applied to the UK Government's Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme – for those who had helped British forces during the 20-year conflict. It has now emerged personal details of special forces personnel and serving spies were also compromised. Dave Doogan, the SNP's defence spokesman said: 'One breach of ARAP data could be considered careless albeit to a callous degree given what we were trying to protect the applicants on this list from, but sadly this was one of [several] leaks we know about. 'It therefore has the appearance of institutional incompetence comp-ounded by a galling lack of ministerial grip by the previous secretary of state.' The Tories' then- defence secretary Ben Wallace was only told of the breach 18 months after it happened when details about the leaked data were mentioned on Facebook. The MoD set up a secret scheme, the Afghan Response Route (ARR), to relocate those named. About 6900 people were relocated using that scheme, estimated to have cost about £800million. Wallace personally applied for an injunction to stop the media from reporting the scandal or parliamentarians being informed. The gagging order was only intended to last four months but when Grant Shapps succeeded Wallace it was upgraded to a superinjunction and remained in place until last week. The Sunday Mail has now learned that no serving Cabinet ministers other than Wallace, Shapps and then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak were told about the scandal. One ex-Cabinet minister said: 'We were not informed.' And despite the MoD setting up an entire scheme to relocate Afghans whose data had been compromised, including housing them in Scotland, they failed to inform Humza Yousaf, who was first minister at the time. Senior Scottish Government sources said they were not told. An adviser said: 'We knew nothing about it until everyone else found out from John Healey and neither did Humza at the time. I'm sure he also learned about it from watching Parliament TV last week.' The Labour government applied to extend the superinjunction three times – in May and November last year and this January – and commissioned a review into what options it had to put an end to the ARR. The report by retired civil servant Paul Rimmer found there was 'little evidence of intent by the Taleban [sic] to conduct a campaign of retribution.' It went on to say the leaked data 'may not have spread nearly as widely as initially feared. We believe it is unlikely the dataset would be the single, or definitive, piece of information enabling or prompting the Taleban to act.' Thousands of Afghans have settled in Scotland since the Taliban took power in 2021. But thousands more are still thought to be living in fear there. Doogan said: 'When the current Secretary of State for Defence took us round the houses on this mess in Parliament his statement included a curious focus on the cost to the taxpayer going forward, with an even more inappropriate stress on any impact on immigration figures. His statement should have been limited to an apology, the steps taken to remedy the apparently sieve-like nature of a government department entrusted with our security and the debt we still owe to those compromised.' He said the government's reliance on the Rimmer Report showed 'a staggering degree of complacency from members of a bureaucracy whose collective and sustained incompetence, I greatly fear, has left brave Afghans, wherever they are hiding, to endure even greater threats'. The MoD said: 'As the Defence Secretary outlined in his statement there was a super injunction in place meaning they could not inform others and knowledge was kept to a narrow compartment.' A Scottish Government spokesman said: 'We were not made aware of this issue before the UK Minister of Defence's statement to the House of Commons. 'This incident is clearly deeply concerning and we urge the UK Government to ensure it prioritises the safety and protection of people affected.' The 18,714 Afghans fearful of Taliban reprisals due to the leak are unlikely to get compensation. The MoD said any claims will be robustly defended. This month, Armed Forces minister Luke Pollard announced £1.6million in compensation for a separate incident involving the release of Afghan nationals' data. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. 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The Irish Sun
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Irish Sun
Taliban ‘already murdering Afghans linked to foreign military' days after chilling warning over MoD ‘kill list' leak
THE TALIBAN are reportedly already murdering Afghans linked to foreign militaries - days after a huge MoD data leak. Fears have been growing over the safety of more than 18,000 Afghans whose details were included on the secret list. Advertisement 3 The Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in August 2021 Credit: Getty 3 Details of almost 20,000 refugees fleeing the Taliban were leaked after a top secret email was sent to the wrong person Credit: AP 3 A number of named individuals have already been assassinated Credit: AFP A number of named individuals have been assassinated since the leak with one man shot four times in the chest at close range on Monday one of three assassinations in the past week according to the It comes after the Taliban sent a fleeing the Taliban were leaked after a Royal Marine mistakenly sent a top secret email to the wrong people. Since then panic has been spreading as up to 100,000 could face deadly repercussions from ruthless Taliban rulers who hunt down and kill anyone who helped the UK forces. Advertisement Read more News But sources have insisted it was impossible to prove conclusively whether it was a direct result of the data breach. Afghans were informed on Tuesday that their personal details had been lost including names, phone numbers and their family's details as well as other details that could help the Taliban hunt them down. It is not yet known whether the Taliban is in possession of the database. It includes names of Afghans as well as the names of their individual UK sponsors including Major General. Advertisement Most read in The Sun Breaking Exclusive One Afghan soldier who fled to Britain in fear of retribution, believes his brother was shot in the street this week because the Taliban believed he was affiliated to the UK. "If or when the Taliban have this list, then killings will increase – and it will be Britain's fault," he said. Taliban warns thousands of Afghans secretly airlifted to UK 'we will HUNT you down' "There will be many more executions like the one on Monday." He is convinced his sibling was executed because of his own association with Afghan special forces, known as the Triples. Advertisement He believes that the Taliban sought revenge on his family instead as news of his brother's murder reached him in Britain within an hour of the execution. A day later, Taliban fighters dragged a woman from her home and beat her in the street. A former British military interpreter who witnessed the attack claimed it was because the woman's husband "worked for the West" and is now hiding in Iran. Taliban officials have claimed the details of all the refugees have been known to them since 2022, after they allegedly sourced the information from the internet. Advertisement A dossier listing more than 300 murders includes those who worked with the UK and some who had applied for the UK's Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) scheme. This includes senior Afghan intelligence officer, Colonel Shafiq Ahmad Khan, a 61-year-old grandfather who had worked alongside British forces. He was shot in the heart on his doorstep in May 2022. There has been fury this week over the data breach's deadly implications with one angry former interpreter saying: "We risked our lives for the UK standing beside them day after day, now they are risking our lives again." Advertisement The epic MoD blunder was kept Top Secret for almost three years by a legal super injunction. And the government is still battling the courts to keep details behind the Afghan data leak secret. Thousands of the refugees had to be secretly relocated to the UK and it is set to cost Britain up to £7 billion. A total of 18,714 Afghans were included on the secret list, many of whom arrived via unmarked planes which landed at airport. Advertisement Many of the Afghans who were flown into the country as part of Operation Rubific were initially housed at MoD homes or hotels until permanent accommodation was found. Only around 10 to 15 per cent of the individuals on the list would have qualified for relocation under the emergency Afghan Relocation and Assistance Programme, known as ARAP, opened as Kabul fell to the But the leak means many more now have a valid claim for assistance and relocation.
Irish Independent
4 days ago
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Hundreds more MoD data breaches revealed as security questions raised in wake of Afghan breach
The latest MoD data shows there were 569 incidents in 2023-24 – up from 550 the previous year – which included electronic devices being lost and protected documents not being disposed of properly. In one incident last year, the details of 272,000 staff – including names and bank details – were breached when one of its systems, run by an external contractor, was hacked by a 'malign actor'. In another case, the MoD was fined £350,000 (€404,000) by the Information Commissioner for a breach related to the handling of emails linked to the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) – the scheme to bring Afghans with links to British forces to safety in UK. Kevan Jones, the chairman of the powerful Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC), has demanded that the MoD give an explanation as to why high-security information is being held on low-security systems. It follows the revelation this week of a catastrophic data breach, which exposed 100,000 Afghans to potential reprisals from the Taliban, costing the UK taxpayer billions and prompting a three-year cover-up through the use of an unprecedented super-injunction. Further concerns emerged on Thursday after it was revealed that UK spies and special forces soldiers were also potentially exposed by the incident. Already, members of the ISC, which has a statutory duty to hold government agencies to account, are furious that the MoD ignored a request by a judge to share the details of the original Afghan data breach with the committee. But now the Labour peer who chairs the committee has raised questions over whether the MoD's systems to handle sensitive data are good enough. Mr Jones said: 'There seems to have been a number of breaches. It raises questions not just about the systems but how they are used. "The big unanswered question on the Afghanistan data leak is why such secret information was being held on a low-side system and not a secure encrypted system.' ADVERTISEMENT The ISC has demanded documents relating to the Afghan breach and could launch its own inquiry into the scandal. But the issue is also set to be raised in the inquiry that the Commons defence select committee will hold after the summer recess. Tan Dhesi, the Labour defence select committee chair, said: 'This is going to end up being one of the most costly email blunders in history. . 'Rigorous safeguards must be in place to ensure that this cannot happen again. " It's shameful that courageous Afghans who served alongside British soldiers have had their safety jeopardised by this leak. 'The revelation that this breach has also put our brave British service personnel at risk makes the situation even more shocking.
