Brother of Afghan soldier ‘killed by Taliban over data leak’: lawyer

The claim heaps pressure on the British government days after a superinjunction was lifted, revealing that the details of more than 50,000 Afghans had been leaked in 2023.

Taliban security personnel stand guard near the site of a deadly explosion in Khost in August 2023. Picture: AFP

The brother of an elite Afghan soldier who worked with British forces has been killed by the Taliban after his name appeared on a major data leak, it has been claimed.

Adnan Malik, head of data protection for Barings Law, said he was representing an Afghan soldier in his 40s who came to Britain under the main Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy.

On Friday, the man’s brother was shot dead, leading the lawyer to claim the death was the result of the leak of the names of Afghans who helped the British Army.

The Times was unable to independently verify details of the man’s death, which came days after a superinjunction was lifted, revealing that the details of more than 50,000 Afghans had been leaked in 2023.

“The Taliban found out that the police officer was the brother of a Triple and they killed him on Friday,” Mr Malik said.

The Triple units, made up of elite Afghan special forces soldiers, worked closely with Britain’s SAS. The units were set up, funded and run by the UK, and one of their objectives was to hunt down and kill Taliban insurgents.

“The (dead man’s brother) was on the list,” Mr Malik said. “I’m assuming the Taliban put two and two together … It shows that as a result of the breach being made public, as a result of the government cover-up for two years, people are paying with their lives.”

Barings is representing 1000 data leak victims in a compensation claim against the government. It said 100 new Afghan clients were signing up every day after the lifting of the superinjunction. Thousands of victims of the data breach are expected to lodge claims collectively worth hundreds of millions of pounds as early as next week.

The government has said it will “robustly defend” against the claims. Many of the names on the leaked list have gone into hiding in Afghanistan, or are trying to leave despite a Taliban ban on crossing the border.

Another Barings client, a former Afghan general who came to live in the West Midlands, is paying protection money to stop the Taliban from killing his teenage son, Mr Malik said.

A secret scheme was put in place to move to the UK 15,000 Afghans put at risk by the leak, but many of these face a wait of years to relocate.

Mr Malik said the government should pay compensation to avoid prolonging the uncertainty faced by victims.

“This will stay in the news,” he said. “You might decide to report on it six months later, a year later, and the Taliban might decide, ‘let’s go through the list again’. Rather than the government saying, ‘OK, we made a mistake, let’s try and rectify this and move on’.”

An Afghan National Army soldier at a road checkpoint near the US military base at Bagram, 50km north of Kabul, in April 2021. Picture: AFP

The MPs’ intelligence and security committee, which was not informed about the mass leak, is expected to launch a formal inquiry in the coming weeks. It will question Sir Richard Moore, the outgoing head of MI6, and his successor, Blaise Metreweli.

To avoid paying compensation, the government will have to rely on the independent Rimmer review commissioned by Defence Secretary John Healey, which found: “It is highly unlikely that merely being on the spreadsheet would be grounds for an individual to be targeted.”

This view is not shared by victims. Mohibullah, an Afghan whose brother was an interpreter killed serving alongside the UK forces, last week said he believed lives were still at risk.

Afghans affected by a previous and less severe data breach in 2021 have been given £4000 ($8249) in compensation.

The Ministry of Defence said: “We will robustly defend against any legal action or compensation.

“The independent Rimmer review concluded that it is highly unlikely that merely being on the spreadsheet would be grounds for an individual to be targeted, and this is the basis on which the court lifted its superinjunction.”

THE TIMES