Latest news with #assassinations
Daily Mail
3 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.'
The Sun
4 days ago
- Politics
- The 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. 3 3 3 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 Mail. It comes after the Taliban sent a chilling warning that it will hunt down thousands of Afghan refugees on a "kill list" after the UK's huge data breach. Details of almost 20,000 refugees 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. 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 SAS and MI6 spies and at least one Royal Marine Major General. 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. "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. 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. 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." 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 Stansted airport. 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 Taliban. But the leak means many more now have a valid claim for assistance and relocation.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trinidad and Tobago declares state of emergency after plot to kill government officials uncovered
A new state of emergency has been declared in Trinidad and Tobago after authorities accused a criminal network of plotting to kill government officials and attack public institutions. Police said they had intelligence that phones smuggled into prisons allowed those involved in the plot to plan to target senior police officers, members of the judiciary and employees at the state prosecution office. At a press conference on Friday, police commissioner Allister Guevarro said: "They were planning, actively so, to carry out assassinations, robberies, and kidnappings." He said the intelligence report prompted him to recommend that newly elected Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar declare the emergency. He noted there were no particular threats to any politicians. It's the second state of emergency declared in Trinidad and Tobago in a year - authorities cited concerns about gang violence in that declaration, which lasted from December to April. Under a state of emergency, police can conduct searches and make arrests without a warrant. A curfew has not been put into effect. Mr Guevarro said gang leaders who were housed in a maximum-security prison in east Trinidad have been relocated to an unidentified facility. "We have seen recent acts of kidnapping and homicides being perpetrated against our citizenry that we have been able to trace back to this organised crime syndicate," he said. Read more from Sky News: According to police data, Trinidad and Tobago, with a population of more than 1.4 million, recorded 624 killings last year, its deadliest on record. As of Thursday, police said the number of killings this year stood at 214 - a decline from 325 in the same period last year.
Sky News
5 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News
Trinidad and Tobago declares state of emergency after plot to kill government officials uncovered
A new state of emergency has been declared in Trinidad and Tobago after authorities accused a criminal network of plotting to kill government officials and attack public institutions. Police said they had intelligence that phones smuggled into prisons allowed those involved in the plot to plan to target senior police officers, members of the judiciary and employees at the state prosecution office. At a press conference on Friday, police commissioner Allister Guevarro said: "They were planning, actively so, to carry out assassinations, robberies, and kidnappings." He said the intelligence report prompted him to recommend that newly elected Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar declare the emergency. He noted there were no particular threats to any politicians. It's the second state of emergency declared in Trinidad and Tobago in a year - authorities cited concerns about gang violence in that declaration, which lasted from December to April. Under a state of emergency, police can conduct searches and make arrests without a warrant. A curfew has not been put into effect. Mr Guevarro said gang leaders who were housed in a maximum-security prison in east Trinidad have been relocated to an unidentified facility. "We have seen recent acts of kidnapping and homicides being perpetrated against our citizenry that we have been able to trace back to this organised crime syndicate," he said. According to police data, Trinidad and Tobago, with a population of more than 1.4 million, recorded 624 killings last year, its deadliest on record. As of Thursday, police said the number of killings this year stood at 214 - a decline from 325 in the same period last year.
