Taliban fighters Transferred to UK ‘on secret airlift flights’ after Afghanistan data breach
Tawazon – The Telegraph has reported that several Afghans with alleged links to the Taliban have reportedly arrived in the UK on secret flights, following a major data breach by a British military official.
According to the British newspaper, Telegraph, sex offenders, corrupt officials and people imprisoned under the US-led coalition are also among those who have been accepted for the resettlement in the UK.
According to the report, in 2022, after the fall of Kabul and the Taliban’s return to power, a classified database containing personal details of over 100,000 Afghans who had cooperated with British forces was mistakenly leaked. In response, the UK launched a covert operation, known as Operation Rubific, to rescue at-risk Afghans. Thousands have since been airlifted, with an additional 23,900 expected to be evacuated in the coming months.
The scheme was set up to help those who had worked with British forces escape retribution after the group’s return to power in August 2021.
“Multiple senior sources in Afghanistan, that the evacuation process was infiltrated by individuals with Taliban connections who exploited the system and got fighters to the UK, including by naming Taliban fighters as family members and dependents who needed to join them here”, the Telegraph said.
“We had civilians in our office who had clear ties with the Taliban,” one Afghan official said. Another said that “corrupt” Afghan officials were exploiting the scheme intended for UK allies by getting people involved with the Taliban to Britain.
Another said: “They are not good for Britain. They were fighting against British forces and killed lots of Brits but now are being fed by Brits in London. “They have British blood on their hands.”
British media outlets say the situation reveals serious flaws in the vetting process for evacuees, while leaving thousands of qualified individuals, still stranded in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, at serious risk.
The UK Ministry of Defence has previously confirmed that some evacuees were allowed to bring up to 20 family members with them. According to the Telegraph, at least four individuals with suspected Taliban links have so far been identified among those brought to the UK under the scheme.
One man, who arrived before Kabul’s fall in 2021, reportedly facilitated the entry of multiple Taliban-affiliated family members. He is now residing in the UK.
A second individual, previously sentenced to four years in prison for theft and selling weapons to the Taliban, was released after the fall of Kabul and is now in the UK. A third individual, accused of sexually harassing female staff members, has not yet arrived in Britain; his asylum case is currently under review.
The fourth is a British passport holder who reportedly helped Taliban-linked individuals gain entry to theh UK. The Ministry of Defence has not publicly commented on his case.
