British Special Forces and Intelligence Officers Exposed in Major Afghan Data Breach
The identities of over 100 British personnel, including members of MI6 and the Special Air Service (SAS), were compromised in a serious data breach linked to the UK’s Afghan resettlement programme. The Afghan Data breach, which also endangered nearly 19,000 Afghans who worked with British forces, was partially revealed on Thursday after a High Court lifted a long-standing injunction.
The database at the heart of the breach contained classified case notes and personal details of individuals involved in British operations in Afghanistan. A “super-injunction” had originally barred even acknowledging the existence of the breach, given the grave security risks it posed.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed earlier this week that the data of thousands of Afghan nationals—many facing threats from the Taliban due to their ties with UK forces—had been inadvertently leaked in February 2022. Alarmingly, the breach went unnoticed until August 2023, when a person in Afghanistan who had obtained the information posted excerpts on Facebook and implied he would release more unless action was taken.
According to the BBC, the government responded by fast-tracking the individual’s relocation to the UK, a move some insiders described as “essentially blackmail.” Although the MoD declined to comment on the individual’s actions, it stressed that all Afghan resettlement applicants undergo robust security vetting.
In response to the breach, the UK covertly established the Afghanistan Response Route (ARR) — a special relocation initiative that has since resettled 4,500 Afghans and their families, with another 2,400 expected to follow at a projected cost of £850 million.
The breach occurred due to a clerical error, when someone at the UK Special Forces headquarters mistakenly emailed over 30,000 resettlement files to an external contact, believing the data contained only 150 individuals.
Following the partial lifting of the injunction, further details about the involvement of British intelligence and special forces were allowed to be published after a legal compromise between the MoD and media outlets.
Defence Secretary John Healey addressed Parliament, calling the incident a “serious departmental error” and admitted it was one of several data-related failures linked to Afghan relocation efforts. Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge apologised on behalf of the former Conservative government, which was in power when the breach occurred.
The MoD has not disclosed how many Afghans may have been harmed due to the leak. The Taliban government stated it has not arrested or monitored those affected, though relatives told the BBC that Taliban efforts to trace named individuals had intensified after the leak.
An MoD spokesperson said:
“It’s longstanding policy of successive governments not to comment on special forces. We take the security of our personnel very seriously, particularly those in sensitive positions.”