Latest news with #AfghanSpecialForces
The Independent
19-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
The failure to stand by Afghans who fought with the British has been unforgivable
Among the jaw-dropping revelations in the past few days of the mishandling of Britain's responsibility towards Afghans who fought alongside our troops, one stands out. No one has been disciplined for any of the failures of the British state in dealing with the after-effects of our withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. No one has been held to account for the leak of thousands of names of Afghans whose lives have been put in danger. We are not talking here about the British serviceman who pressed 'send' on the email to which a spreadsheet was attached containing hidden data, so much as about the senior officials responsible for ensuring secure communication of sensitive information. Holly Bancroft, our journalist who has won awards for her coverage of the Afghan special forces left behind by Britain, has reported on many other cases in which the Ministry of Defence has failed to keep data safe, including being fined by the information commissioner for mishandling of emails linked to the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (Arap). Nor has anyone been disciplined for the failure to use the time bought by the superinjunction after the leak was discovered to bring all those affected to safety. The Independent has spoken to two Afghans who served alongside British forces who are still in Afghanistan, waiting for decisions on their applications for the right to come to the UK. Their situation has now become perilous, despite the Ministry of Defence having had two years to put it right. Indeed, instead of trying to identify the remaining Afghans put at risk by the leak and to make sure that they were quickly protected, the MoD was seeking to have the injunction extended, possibly indefinitely. As we have commented before, the instinct not just of the bureaucracy but of its former political leaders seems to have been to cover up the problem rather than deal with it. This is part of a wider failure, on which The Independent has reported with a consistent sense of urgency, to deal efficiently with the relatively small numbers of people left in a vulnerable position by the allies' withdrawal four years ago. In some cases, officials have denied that members of the Afghan special forces were paid by the British, only for the evidence to be discovered later. In another case, one official was found to have refused 1,500 applications for assistance without checking them individually. We have campaigned for years against foot-dragging by the MoD, the Foreign Office and the Home Office, which has left brave Afghans who risked their lives to assist our forces in their country in limbo. Some of them were left in a state of uncertainty in the UK, such as the pilot who came to Britain in a small boat – because there was no other way – only to be threatened with deportation to Rwanda. Thanks to our campaign, he was finally given permission to stay. But there are hundreds more, some still in Afghanistan, others in Pakistan or Iran, still waiting for the British state to acknowledge its responsibility to them. This cannot go on. It is high time that the prime minister and John Healey, the defence secretary, got a grip on this issue – and that must include identifying and punishing those responsible for this shameful episode.
Daily Mirror
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
At least 100 ex-Afghan special forces still on the run from Taliban death squads
Scores of Afghan special forces and undercover operators killed in Taliban purge in the aftermath of the 2021 fall of Kabul - horror emerges after leak of almost 20,000 names endangers many At least 56 Afghan Special Forces commandos have been hunted down, captured and killed by Taliban revenge units since the fall of Kabul, it has been claimed. And a further 102 of the western-trained elite troops remain on the run, often moving from house to house, as they flee a terrible end at the hands of Taliban death squads. Many of those killed suffered enormously at the hands of their cruel captors who inflicted torture on them for days before executing them and those still free are taunted. It is impossible to know how many are being targeted as a result of the massive MoD data breach in which almost 20,000 files of Afghans wanted to flee were leaked. It also emerged today that details of as many as 100 UK special forces and MI6 spies were mentioned in a data breach along with almost 20,000 names of Afghans associated with UK forces and diplomatic missions - further escalating the cover-up scandal. Their names were of people who vouched for applicants trying to flee Afghanistan to the UK because they they feared their work with UK forces and civilian or diplomatic missions would cost them their lives once the Taliban found out. A former British military source, who mentored many of the commandos dubbed 'Triples' because of the name of their special units, told the Daily Mirror: 'The precise number of those captured or executed by the Taliban remains uncertain, though anecdotal evidence suggests the figure is tragically high. Since the fall of Kabul we have lost 56 individuals, predominantly former members of the Triple Unit and the Afghan National Directorate of Security. 'Their deaths, whilst heart-breaking, are not isolated incidents but part of a broader pattern of retribution. I have been closely engaged in these issues and speak regularly with those who remain deeply involved in supporting those still in danger." The 'Triples' were three Special Forces units called 222, 333 and 444- all of them highly-targeted by the Taliban. The horror facing many remaining Afghan operatives emerged as political figures scrambled to deny they had mismanaged the nightmare 2021 fall of Kabul. It was worsened with the catastrophic and accidental leak of 18,500 names of Afghans, many military, who needed to flee Afghanistan for the UK. The list of names was accidentally sent out by a UK military official, the Taliban became aware of it and it triggered them to step up the hunt. Meanwhile thousands of Afghans endangered by the leak have been smuggled to the UK under the Afghan Relocation Route system set up when the leak emerged. The Mirror source revealed how many fleeing Afghan Special Forces and members of other western-trained units were ghosted to safety from Kabul as the capital fell in 2021. Their 'Triple' units were codenamed 'CRU 222' or Crisis Response Unit 222 - a counter-terror fighting unit supported by the British special forces, 'CF 333 - or Commando Force 333, counter-terror and targeting of top Taliban 'high value targets supported by the US Green Berets, and ATF 444 - the Afghan Territorial Force 444 whose role was to do all of the above but in Helmand and Kandahar Provices. They were called "the Triples" because they used three numbers in their title. There were plans underway to expans the "Triples" special forces with five or six more units dubbed 555, 666, 777, 888, 999 but the fall of Kabul stopped that in its tracks. As the Taliban death units closed in on them they were were helped to the Panjshir Valley, where they were looked after by the National Resistance Front. Others crossed into Pakistan, Turkmenistan or Uzbekistan, but many remain stranded in Afghanistan. The Mirror source added: 'The danger they face is ongoing. Death threats are routinely delivered by phone to family members and many who were captured were subjected to prolonged torture before execution, some murdered outright without warning or process. 'The cruelty has been systematic and calculated and continues to this day with the personnel we speak with when safe to do so.' In 2021 a scheme to relocate Afghans who helped the British military during the war was launched and called the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP). But in February 2022 an unnamed British official accidentally emailed details of 18,714 Afghans who applied to be relocated to the UK. He had thought he was emailing 150 rows of information, but it actually contained around 33,000. Roughly a year later the MoD discovered the breach and also in 2023 officials realise the Taliban may have obtained a 'kill list of thousands.' Then defence secretary Ben Wallace applied for a court order after the MoD reeived two inquiries about the breach from journalists. And soon after a High Court granted a super-injunction gagging order until a hearing scheduled for 1 December, preventing the reporting of the breach.
The Independent
17-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Ex-minister claims he was misled over fate of Afghan elite soldiers abandoned by UK and exposed in data breach
A former defence minister has claimed he was misled over the rights of hundreds of Afghan special forces soldiers to be brought to safety in the UK, as revealed by The Independent. Former Tory armed forces minister James Heappey, who oversaw the cover-up of a major data breach which impacted 100,000 Afghans and cost the UK £7bn, has apologised and admitted 'we let the country down'. But addressing the fate of Afghan special forces known as 'the Triples', who were abandoned by the UK in the country despite being targeted by the Taliban because of their role training and fighting side by side with British forces, Mr Heappey has suggested that he was misled over their eligibility to be brought to safety. He said: 'An aside on Triples. I pushed and pushed within the MoD for clarification in response to what was said in press, parliament and by campaigners. Again and again, I said in public what very senior officials and military had briefed me. It is hugely frustrating that proved to be wrong.' The Independent spearheaded a campaign urging the government to grant members of the Triples sanctuary in Britain after many were left stranded and in danger, following the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in August 2021. Now, it has emerged that around half of the commandos initially identified for relocation to the UK were affected by the breach, which became the subject of a draconian superinjunction amid fears the dataset could fall into the hands of the Taliban. Mr Heappey conceded: 'The debate over the Triples (a group of around 1,500 Afghan special forces who'd worked alongside UK military)... by early 2024, it was clear MOD decision making on these troops was flawed & would need review with an expectation many would now be deemed eligible.' Meanwhile, Mr Heappey has broken cover on his involvement in the cover-up of the major data breach in February 2022 when an official sent an email containing a document with the details of 33,000 records, and the details of more than 18,000 Afghans who had applied to be brought to safety in the UK. In response, the government set up a secret route for 24,000 Afghans to be brought to the UK and obtained an unprecedented super injunction to prevent reporting or even discussion of what had happened. Mr Heappey said the data breach revelation was 'gut-wrenching' and apologised for his part in the scandal. He said: 'I'd like to add my sincere apology to those of other current & former defence ministers for the data breach which compromised details of so many applicants to the ARAP scheme.' He described his frustration at 'struggling' to resettle legal Afghan claims because the system was being overwhelmed by illegal arrivals. Mr Heappey said: 'It was gut-wrenching to find out that someone in MoD had screwed up so awfully, although I also came to find out subsequently that they were incredibly dedicated to those we served with in Afghanistan. 'Few had done more to get people who served alongside our special forces out of Afghanistan. It is incredibly unfair that someone who'd done so much good and changed so many lives deservedly for the better, should also be responsible for [the operation codenamed] RUBIFIC. 'But worst part of all, of course, was the mortal danger we feared this breach presented to ARAP applicants whose details had been compromised. 'The intelligence assessment was clear: if the Taliban got their hands on the list, violent and even lethal reprisal was likely.' He made it clear that the decision to cover the scandal up in the courts with a super injunction was not his decision, in effect pointing the finger at defence secretaries Grant Shapps, Ben Wallace and former prime minister Rishi Sunak. Similar points have been made by former home secretary Suella Braverman who noted that her opposition to what was being decided was closed down once the super injunction came into place. Mr Heappey said: 'Others made decision over injunction but for what it's worth, I agree that it was needed. Whether it needed to be extended is moot - arguments are finely balanced. I'd left Govt by time of the Court of Appeal extension. And, of course, it was extended after election too. 'The anger across Govt at the MOD over the breach was palpable and justified. There were some pretty choice words offered in meetings. But the suggestion I was driving a new entitlement for those not eligible for ARAP or ACRS but affected by the breach is untrue.' Sir Ben, who was defence secretary at the time the initial legal order was sought, has said he takes full responsibility for the leak. Mr Shapps has so far stayed silent on the issue.
Telegraph
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
‘Taliban fighters came to my house. I escaped just in time'
The knock came at 3am, sharp and deliberate against the aged metal door. But the house, in western Afghanistan, was empty – it had been for nearly two years, ever since the day everything changed for the man who once called it home. He sits now in a cramped shelter across the border in Iran, watching his phone buzz with another frantic message from family who stayed behind in Afghanistan. The Taliban had come again, searching, questioning, demanding answers his relatives couldn't give. 'They've been going to my relatives' homes twice a week asking about me. I'm just glad I managed to flee, otherwise they would have killed my whole family,' the former member of the Afghan special forces told The Telegraph from a small town outside Tehran. 'They came to my house a few weeks ago, which is right next to my parents', and started knocking at 3am, looking for me. They think I return home at night.' His name had appeared on a 'kill list' of Afghans who had helped British forces before the fall of Kabul in 2021. The list, carrying 25,000 names of soldiers and their families, was accidentally leaked online in 2022 by a Royal Marine. The names were supposed to remain secret, protected by government security protocols. Instead, they became a Taliban hunting manual. The man and a group of other Afghans on the list had heard rumours of compensation. One law firm – based in the UK – is suing the Ministry of Defence on behalf of at least 1,000 Afghans who claim they were affected by the breach. However, for those on the list who never made it to the UK, compensation is the least of their priorities. 'Officially, through the case we filed, no one has communicated anything to us,' the man said. 'We are very disappointed and just waiting. The British government has not told us what to do. 'I'm not alone, there are many people like me here and in Afghanistan who have been living in fear and waiting when death would knock on the door.' Britain has secretly offered asylum to nearly 24,000 Afghan soldiers and their families caught up in the most serious data breach in history. The leak, involving the details of 18,800 soldiers, along with about 6,000 of their family members, was revealed on Tuesday after a two-year super-injunction was lifted by the High Court in London. However, the former member of the Afghan special forces said many of those who were taken to Britain were neither high-ranking nor facing serious threats to their lives. ' People like base gardeners or low-ranking soldiers were taken to Britain, but many high-ranking colonels whose lives are truly at risk were left behind, just waiting for death to come,' he said. 'It's deeply disappointing. This isn't justice. I don't understand how they prioritised the evacuations – they even took the guy who used to polish shoes, or a base's barber, but left behind many colonels.' The Home Office regularly declines to comment on the specific categories of individuals brought to the UK. The man served with the British Army's special forces, his skills and courage earning him respect among his international colleagues. His nephew told The Telegraph from Afghanistan: 'He was too courageous and everyone in his unit knew that, but England left him behind after their forces left. 'For months he was living in different homes of relatives and in villages and towns around Herat.' When Western forces withdrew in 2021, the man applied for asylum in the UK, submitting documents that included his service record and his family's details. It was supposed to be his pathway to safety. Instead, it became his death warrant. The Taliban claims they obtained the list from the internet during the first days after it was leaked. While the Government spent £7 billion on a covert operation to relocate thousands of affected Afghans to the UK, the man and his family remained trapped in limbo, their names circulating among Taliban units with orders to find them. 'They keep pressuring us to reveal his whereabouts,' his nephew said. 'They once arrested me and beat me for a day. My uncle served with the special forces. The Taliban keep saying he must come with them for questioning.' Taliban fighters don't just visit once and leave. They return regularly, methodically working through extended family networks, applying pressure with each visit. They know intimate details. Information that could only have come from the leaked asylum applications. 'It's putting everyone in the family at risk,' the nephew explains. 'Being related to someone on a Taliban kill list is a death sentence. He added: 'They have all his details – his name, his wife's name, even his children's names. We were shocked when they listed them.' The Taliban's message to the family is brutally clear: if they can't find the man, they'll kill another family member instead. 'The blood of a spy is in your veins,' they told his relatives, transforming his service into a hereditary crime that endangers everyone who shares his name. Nearly two years have passed since he fled to Iran with his family, but the pursuit hasn't diminished. If anything, it has intensified. A senior Taliban official told The Telegraph that a special unit had been launched to find those on the list, with names handed over to border forces to prevent escape. The hunt has become institutionalised, with senior figures in Kandahar pressuring officials in Kabul to locate the targets. 'These people are seen as traitors,' a Taliban official said, 'and the plan has been to find as many of them as possible.' For the man hiding in Iran, the news grows more desperate by the day. The Islamic Republic is now deporting hundreds of thousands of Afghans back into Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Iran is using espionage allegations against Afghans as a pretext for the mass arrests and deportations following the recent conflict with Israel. The Telegraph spoke to Afghans in Iran, at the border, and in Afghanistan who said the regime in Tehran was targeting them to divert public attention from its 'humiliation' by Israel in last month's 12-day war. During the conflict, daily deportations jumped from 2,000 to over 30,000 as Iranian authorities turned public anger toward the vulnerable minority. Those persecuted by the regime also reported suffering widespread abuses including beatings, arbitrary detention. Since early June, nearly 450,000 Afghan refugees, many who arrived after the Taliban returned to power in 2021, have been deported and 5,000 children separated from their parents, according to UN agencies. 'The situation in Iran isn't good,' the former special forces member said. 'I emailed them [British officials], but all I got was an automatic reply saying they'd get back to me.'
The Independent
08-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Hundreds of Afghan special forces wrongly rejected for sanctuary due to poor MoD decisions, High Court judge finds
Defective decision making resulted in hundreds of Afghan special forces who served with the British being wrongly rejected for sanctuary and abandoned to the Taliban, a High Court judge has found. Afghan commandos, who served alongside the UK special forces in Afghanistan, were left behind after the Taliban takeover in 2021 and received blanket rejections by the MoD to their applications to resettle in the UK. Thousands of applications by these fighters, who were trained and paid by the British, are being reviewed after the government acknowledged failures in how they were processed. The Afghans are known as the Triples because of the names of their units, mainly Commando Force 333 and Afghan Territorial Force 444. Now the High Court has found that there were numerous defects in the way their cases were handled. In a judgement published on Tuesday, Lord Justice Dingemans found that MoD caseworkers had failed to properly interpret the criteria required for UK resettlement - leading to the Afghans' wrongful rejections. Caseworkers, and the liaison officer from the UK special forces who was assisting them, 'were not given access to relevant records relating to payments' and so didn't know that these Afghan fighters had received direct pay from the British. MoD officials were also 'overly reliant' on UK special forces (UKSF) personnel for input and 'placed too much weight on personal knowledge and judgement', Lord Dingemans found. One UKSF liaison officer, who was tasked with investigating applicants links to the special forces, would refuse applications if the relevant UKSF unit failed to respond to his inquiries, the judgement found. A push to 'sprint' through applications in the summer of 2023 also led to 'a lack of real consideration of the applications', with many Afghan commandos receiving rejections during this time. Lord Justice Dingemans has also ordered the MoD to correct the public record after then-armed forces minister James Heappey gave incorrect information to parliament about the scope of the government's review. Announcing the MoD's review of cases in February 2024, Mr Heappey told MPs it would cover 'all eligibility decisions made for applications with credible claims of links to the Afghan specialist units'. The government told the court that this was in fact incorrect and the review only covers applications from Afghan commandos which had been forwarded on to a UK special forces liaison officer for input. Justice Dingemans said that the government's evidence showed that 'more than a credible claim of links to the Afghan specialist units was needed to be in the scope of the review'. He added: 'There had to have been a reference to the UK Special Forces or a reference from certain other government bodies and parties'. He concluded that 'given the critical importance of the review to those who have made applications' and the evidence that showed that 'the Taliban have tortured and killed members of the Triples it would be to publish accurate information about the scope of the review'. The judge has ordered that a 'transparent and accurate statement about the scope of the Triples review' is published. The High Court has also ruled that a redacted version of the government's caseworker guidance is published so that Afghan applicants can understand what will qualify them for resettlement. Around 600 Afghan allies, whose applications were among the initial 2,000 re-examined, have been granted approval to come to the UK. On top of the 2,000 applications, up to 2,500 extra cases have been identified for review after the MoD realised the significance of rediscovered payroll data. Daniel Carey, partner at DPG, the law firm acting on behalf of the former Triples, said: 'Our client had to fight very hard to obtain basic natural justice in this case: for his soldiers to be told whether they were included in the government review; the decisions in their cases, and the rules that were being applied. 'We are pleased that he has succeeded. Serious concerns had already been raised about the denial of Arap protection to thousands of Triples who served closely with UK Special Forces. It was vital that the review process itself was not hidden behind a veil of secrecy.'
