Britain has rescued three Afghan families whose personal details were left exposed by officials in the rush to leave the country’s embassy in Kabul.
Documents identifying seven Afghans who worked for the British diplomatic mission in Afghanistan were found by reporters from the Times of London on Tuesday as Taliban fighters patrolled the compound, the newspaper said.
Support our journalism. Subscribe today. arrow-right
Embassy employees apparently left the documents — which reportedly included the details of a senior embassy staffer, other staff members and the résumés of people who had applied to be interpreters — scattered on the ground in their haste to evacuate.
Some of the people had already been resettled in Britain, the newspaper reported.
Story continues below advertisement
The British Foreign Office acknowledged the apparent error that led to the exposure of Afghan staff members and thanked the Times for sharing the information and helping “get these three families to safety.”
Advertisement
“We have worked tirelessly to secure the safety of those who worked for us in Afghanistan and continue to do so,” a representative for the Foreign Office said. “The drawdown of our embassy was done at pace as the situation in Kabul deteriorated. Every effort was made to destroy sensitive material.”
Tom Tugendhat, a Conservative lawmaker who chairs a parliamentary committee that oversees the Foreign Office, said an official inquiry will be launched into the incident. “The evidence is already coming in,” he tweeted.
Story continues below advertisement
The fate of Afghans who worked with Western and allied governments during the two-decades-long conflict is uncertain after the Taliban’s swift takeover of the country this month. The Islamist militant organization has promised not to retaliate, but evidence of Taliban killings, detentions and intimidation has emerged across Afghanistan.
More than 104,000 people have been flown out of the country by the United States and its allies since Aug. 14, the Pentagon said, including foreign citizens and vulnerable Afghans who may have faced retribution under Taliban rule.