Details of Special Forces and MI6 operatives appear in leaked Afghan dataset

The personal details of Special Forces and MI6 operatives was included in a massive data leak that resulted in thousands of Afghan nationals being relocated to the UK.

Those affected include senior military officers that had endorsed Afghan nationals trying to relocate to the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy, otherwise known as Arap.

More than 100 British nationals are believed to be included in the leaked dataset.

• Unprecedented superinjunction helped keep Afghan data breach secret for three years
• 'I felt sick': Former Army officer says UK failed Afghan allies left behind after data breach
• Healey apologises after gagging order lifted, revealing how Afghans' details were leaked

The extent of the breach was revealed earlier this week following the lifting of an unprecedented superinjunction.

It dates back to February 2022, when a spreadsheet containing the details of almost 19,000 applicants of the Arap scheme was erroneously released by a defence official. 

The MOD became aware of the breach almost a year later, when extracts of the spreadsheet were anonymously posted on Facebook.

In the House of Commons earlier this week, Defence Secretary John Healey offered an apology on behalf of the Government and described the breach as a "serious departmental error".

Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge also apologised on behalf of the former Conservative government, which was in power when the leak happened and when it was discovered more than a year later.

Former British Army officer Ash Alexander-Cooper, who spent almost four years in Afghanistan, told BFBS that he felt sick when he heard about the breach and the superinjunction that prevented its disclosure.

"There's a long history of people's lives being treated as lines on a spreadsheet rather than as real people… it's terrifying for many of them wondering what comes next."