Scores of Afghan special forces and undercover operators killed in Taliban purge in the aftermath of the 2021 fall of Kabul – horror emerges after leak of almost 20,000 names endangers many
At least 56 Afghan Special Forces commandos have been hunted down, captured and killed by Taliban revenge units since the fall of Kabul, it has been claimed. And a further 102 of the western-trained elite troops remain on the run, often moving from house to house, as they flee a terrible end at the hands of Taliban death squads.
Many of those killed suffered enormously at the hands of their cruel captors who inflicted torture on them for days before executing them and those still free are taunted. It is impossible to know how many are being targeted as a result of the massive MoD data breach in which almost 20,000 files of Afghans wanted to flee were leaked.
It also emerged today that details of as many as 100 UK special forces and MI6 spies were mentioned in a data breach along with almost 20,000 names of Afghans associated with UK forces and diplomatic missions – further escalating the cover-up scandal. Their names were of people who vouched for applicants trying to flee Afghanistan to the UK because they they feared their work with UK forces and civilian or diplomatic missions would cost them their lives once the Taliban found out.
A former British military source, who mentored many of the commandos dubbed “Triples” because of the name of their special units, told the Daily Mirror : “The precise number of those captured or executed by the Taliban remains uncertain, though anecdotal evidence suggests the figure is tragically high. Since the fall of Kabul we have lost 56 individuals, predominantly former members of the Triple Unit and the Afghan National Directorate of Security.
“Their deaths, whilst heart-breaking, are not isolated incidents but part of a broader pattern of retribution. I have been closely engaged in these issues and speak regularly with those who remain deeply involved in supporting those still in danger.”
The “Triples” were three Special Forces units called 222, 333 and 444- all of them highly-targeted by the Taliban. The horror facing many remaining Afghan operatives emerged as political figures scrambled to deny they had mismanaged the nightmare 2021 fall of Kabul.
It was worsened with the catastrophic and accidental leak of 18,500 names of Afghans, many military, who needed to flee Afghanistan for the UK. The list of names was accidentally sent out by a UK military official, the Taliban became aware of it and it triggered them to step up the hunt.
Meanwhile thousands of Afghans endangered by the leak have been smuggled to the UK under the Afghan Relocation Route system set up when the leak emerged. The Mirror source revealed how many fleeing Afghan Special Forces and members of other western-trained units were ghosted to safety from Kabul as the capital fell in 2021.
Their ‘Triple’ units were codenamed ‘CRU 222’ or Crisis Response Unit 222 – a counter-terror fighting unit supported by the British special forces, ‘CF 333 – or Commando Force 333, counter-terror and targeting of top Taliban ‘high value targets supported by the US Green Berets, and ATF 444 – the Afghan Territorial Force 444 whose role was to do all of the above but in Helmand and Kandahar Provices.
They were called “the Triples” because they used three numbers in their title. There were plans underway to expans the “Triples” special forces with five or six more units dubbed 555, 666, 777, 888, 999 but the fall of Kabul stopped that in its tracks.
As the Taliban death units closed in on them they were were helped to the Panjshir Valley, where they were looked after by the National Resistance Front. Others crossed into Pakistan, Turkmenistan or Uzbekistan, but many remain stranded in Afghanistan.
The Mirror source added: “The danger they face is ongoing. Death threats are routinely delivered by phone to family members and many who were captured were subjected to prolonged torture before execution, some murdered outright without warning or process.
“The cruelty has been systematic and calculated and continues to this day with the personnel we speak with when safe to do so.” In 2021 a scheme to relocate Afghans who helped the British military during the war was launched and called the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP).
But in February 2022 an unnamed British official accidentally emailed details of 18,714 Afghans who applied to be relocated to the UK. He had thought he was emailing 150 rows of information, but it actually contained around 33,000.
Roughly a year later the MoD discovered the breach and also in 2023 officials realise the Taliban may have obtained a “kill list of thousands.” Then defence secretary Ben Wallace applied for a court order after the MoD reeived two inquiries about the breach from journalists.
And soon after a High Court granted a super-injunction gagging order until a hearing scheduled for 1 December, preventing the reporting of the breach.