Defence chiefs are accused of giving ISIS a ‘hit list’ as the names of 20,000 serving British soldiers are published online
True dangers to service personnel were laid bare in 2013 with the brutal murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby
MINISTRY of Defence bosses have been accused of a huge security blunder after posting the name, rank and number of 20,000 soldiers and potential recruits online.
The details of every regular serving officer, reservist officer and university military trainee are now openly available on a government website.
One soldier described it as effectively giving killers from ISIS a “target list”.
The dangers to service personnel were made crystal clear in 2013 with the brutal murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby on the streets of London.
And in July, a Royal Air Force serviceman was the target of an attempted abduction near RAF Marham in Norfolk.
The three documents also include every adult volunteer in the army cadet force.
The Government website and the sites of Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force all contain various versions of the list.
They collectively detail the names and ranks of tens of thousands of military personnel.
It was revealed today a 2015 list - includes 20,000 personnel - many of whom will still be serving.
Members of the Armed Forces are already advised not to wear uniforms when out and about.
Reservist Major Chris Green, who has now left the forces but is detailed on the 2015 list, told publication of the names was a gift for ISIS terrorists.
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He said: "This is a serious security threat when Isis and other groups are looking to target individuals."
Mr Green, who has recently published a book which identifies him as a solider, added: "It is actually a pretty terrifying error.
"They are putting national security at risk in many ways."
Officials at the Ministry of Defence were today reportedly thinking of deleting the current lists of service personnel from the website.
Lists of personnel have been published in hard copy for decades and are an historical resource for people tracing family histories.
Senior officers are generally considered to be in the public domain once they are appointed as their ranks are announced in the London Gazette.
But more junior personnel are advised not to include details of their military service on social media profiles to avoid attracting unwanted attention.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "The security of our people is our foremost concern and we keep measures to address the threats to them under constant review."
