The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) of Parliament has initiated an inquiry following a major data breach that compromised the identities of thousands of Afghans and British military officials. The leak, which was prompted by a mistake made by UK Special Forces personnel in February 2022, led to a super-injunction preventing briefings to the ISC until last week.
The inquiry's chairman, Lord Beamish, emphasized the necessity of immediate access to all documents tied to the incident for thorough scrutiny. "We must understand how these significant failures occurred and ensure accountability for the handling of this matter by the previous government," he stated. The Committee is tasked with overseeing the operations of MI5, MI6, and the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ).
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has expressed support for the ISC's investigation. In a statement, a spokesman reiterated the importance of fully understanding the consequences of the breach and emphasized that current ministers and officials would be prepared to account for their actions in connection with the case.
The data breach initially went unnoticed for over a year and was triggered when a staff member at the UK Special Forces headquarters mistakenly emailed a spreadsheet containing over 30,000 resettlement applications instead of just 150, as he intended. The breach only came to light in August 2023, when an Afghan individual on social media began identifying individuals and hinted he could leak more in what government sources described as "blackmail."
Concerned for the safety of nearly 19,000 Afghans who assisted British forces, the MoD sought a gagging order in September 2023 to mitigate potential reprisals from the Taliban. This legal action culminated in a restrictive super-injunction from the High Court, which remained in place until its recent lifting.
In response to the breach, the UK government established the Afghanistan Response Route (ARR) to facilitate the relocation of approximately 7,000 affected individuals to the UK at a projected cost nearing £850 million. While the MoD indicated that it would robustly defend against any legal claims concerning the breach, reports suggest that the Ministry will not proactively offer compensation to those impacted.
As the ISC continues its inquiry, questions about the extent of the breach's implications for MI6 and the SAS remain a topic of concern, and the political ramifications are anticipated to unfold in the upcoming weeks.
