More than 250 Afghan interpreters at risk after blundering MoD copied personal details into email

THE lives of more than 250 Afghan interpreters are at risk after a blundering Ministry of Defence worker copied their personal details into an email.

Furious Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has demanded a probe into the mistake, with one interpreter warning it could "cost lives" in Afghanistan.

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The data breach involved the secret email addresses of dozens of Afghan interpreters who worked for the British forces.

It happened when the MoD asked more than 250 interpreters seeking relocation to the UK for an update on their situation.

But they were all mistakenly copied into an email from defence officials.

Some of the email addresses even had photos attached, revealing what they look like to potential threats such as the Taliban.

And as they are still stuck in Afghanistan after the UK’s abrupt military withdrawal, "many"of the interpreters remain in fear of their lives, hiding from the Taliban, the broadcaster added.

One interpreter warned: "This mistake could cost the life of interpreters, especially for those who are still in Afghanistan.

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"Some of the interpreters didn't notice the mistake and they replied to all the emails already and they explained their situation which is very dangerous.

"The email contains their profile pictures and contact details."

Apologising for the email blunder, a spokeswoman for the MoD said: "We are aware of a data breach of information from the Afghan Relocations Assistance Policy (ARAP) team.

"We apologise to everyone impacted by this breach and are working hard to ensure it does not happen again."

She said the MoD "takes its information and data handling responsibilities very seriously".

This mistake could cost the life of interpreters, especially for those who are still in Afghanistan.

Anonymous interpreter

The MoD said it had contacted those impacted by the breach, with officials offering advice on how to manage the risk posed by the data reveal.

Mr slated it as an "unacceptable breach".

A source confirmed the Defence Secretary had personally ordered the probe.

Labour shadow defence secretary John Healey said: "We told these Afghans interpreters we would keep them safe, instead this breach has needlessly put lives at risk.

"The priority now is to urgently step up efforts to get these Afghans safely to the UK.

"This is the second major data breach from the MoD this year, after sensitive documents were discovered at a bus stop in Kent in June.

"Clearly, the Defence Secretary needs to get his house in order."

HIT LIST IN KABUL

In August the Sun Online reported that British embassy staff left a "hit list" of Afghan workers who helped western forces in their abandoned compound in Kabul as they fled the Taliban.

Contact details for workers and CVs were seen scattered around the embassy in the Afghan capital by a journalist from  during a tour of the city's deserted diplomatic quarter, accompanied by a Taliban patrol.

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War correspondent Anthony Loyd said as he looked around the building, he saw documents British diplomats had left behind.

Personal information including names, addresses and phone numbers of some of the embassy's Afghan employees were obvious on the abandoned papers.