Taliban deny arresting or monitoring Afghans after UK data leak

KABUL (AFP) : The Taliban government said Thursday it had not arrested or monitored Afghans involved in a secret British resettlement plan after a data breach was revealed this week.

Thousands of Afghans who worked with the UK were brought to Britain with their families in a secret program after a 2022 data breach put their lives at risk, the British government revealed on Tuesday.

The scheme was only revealed after the UK High Court on Tuesday lifted a super-gag order banning any reports of the events.

UK Defense Minister John Healey said the leak was not revealed because of the risk that the Taliban authorities would obtain the data set and the lives of Afghans would be put at risk.

“Nobody has been arrested for their past actions, nobody has been killed and nobody is being monitored for that,” said the Afghan government’s deputy spokesman, Hamdullah Fitrat, in a voice message to reporters on Thursday.

“Reports of investigation and monitoring of a few people whose data has been leaked are false.”

After the Taliban swept back to power in 2021, their Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada announced an amnesty for Afghans who worked for NATO forces or the ousted foreign-backed government during the two-decade conflict.

“We don’t need to use the leaked documents from Britain. Regarding the general amnesty, nobody is investigated or monitored,” Fitrat added.

“The rumors being spread are just to scare these people and create fear and worry among their families, which we deny.”