Afghan workers’ details ‘left at British embassy as Taliban took over’

Affected families are safe, says foreign office

Documents with the contact details of Afghan workers were left scattered at the British embassy compound in Kabul seized by the Taliban.

Paperwork identifying seven Afghans was found by reporters as Taliban fighters patrolled the embassy, The Times reported.

The newspaper said it handed over the details of three Afghan staff and their eight family members to the Foreign Office.

"Crucially we have now been able to get these three families to safety", a Foreign Office spokesperson told Reuters.

"The drawdown of our Embassy was done at pace as the situation in Kabul deteriorated. Every effort was made to destroy sensitive material", the spokesperson said.

The speed of the capture of Kabul meant the usual; evacuation protocols, including the destruction of all data that could compromise local staff, had apparently broken down.

The documents included the name and address of a leading member of the embassy staff in Kabul, other staff members and their contact details and the CVs and addresses of applicants for jobs as interpreters.

Meanwhile, the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Select Committee will conduct an inquiry into the incident, according to its chairman, Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat.

Mr Tugendhat said in a tweet: “How FCDOGovUK handled this crisis will be the subject of a coming CommonsForeign inquiry. The evidence is already coming in.”

Reuters contributed to this report.