But relatives of Afghans named in the leak told the BBC that they fear for their family still in the country, with one saying efforts by the Taliban to find their named relative intensified following the leak. An MoD spokesperson said: "It's longstanding policy of successive governments to not comment on special forces.

The government said that information about 18,000 Afghans was accidentally revealed in 2022. A legal order had prevented any reporting on the subject.

Britain set up a secret scheme to bring thousands of Afghans to the UK after their personal details were disclosed in one of the country's worst ever data breaches, putting them at risk of reprisals from the Taliban after their return to power.