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'Betrayed' Afghan interpreter says family 'waiting for death'
An Afghan interpreter who worked with the British military has told Sky News he feels "betrayed by the British government" after a massive data breach saw his personal details revealed.
Ali, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, had long suspected his details had been shared with the Taliban - but found out just yesterday that he was a victim of the breach three years ago. He is now even more fearful for the lives of family members still in Afghanistan, who are already in hiding from the Taliban.
Ali worked alongside British soldiers in Helmand Province to help them speak with Afghan people. His job also involved listening in on Taliban radio communications and translating them for the British forces.
"The Taliban called us the British eyes," he told Sky News. "Because they think if we are not on the ground with them, the British force cannot do anything.
"They know that you're listening to their chatting and the British forces are acting according to our translation. We were always the first target and our job was always full of risk." After the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021, Ali - who had already suffered injuries after the Taliban targeted him with a car bomb - was brought to the UK through the British government's Afghan Resettlement Programme (ARP) for his own protection.
Once in the UK, he began to suspect his data had been leaked after his father "died because the Taliban took him into custody and beat him". Ali contacted the Ministry of Defence to raise concerns over his personal information last year, and stated in an email that he was "terrified.
Amir Nisi
Creative and experienced content writer with 6+ years of experience lazy to create unique content strategy for News5 to turn website visitors into customers.
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