The United Kingdom rescued three families whose details were left at the Kabul embassy

August 26 (Reuters) – Britain’s Foreign Ministry says it has rescued three Afghan families whose contact details were at their embassy in Kabul after the Times reported that the newspapers they were still there when the Taliban hijacked the building.

Journalists in The Times on Tuesday found documents identifying seven Afghans as Taliban fighters patrolled the embassy, ​​the newspaper said. The Times said it handed over to the Foreign Ministry the details of three Afghan staff members and their eight family members.

British Foreign Ministry staff left documents with contact details of Afghans working for them scattered on the ground at the embassy grounds in Kabul, the newspaper reported.

“We have worked tirelessly to ensure the safety of those who worked for us, including the safety of three families,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

“During the withdrawal of our embassy every effort was made to destroy sensitive material,” he said, refusing further comment on how it was left.

The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in mid-August from a U.S.-backed government, sending thousands fleeing and potentially announcing a return to the austere and autocratic government of militants two decades ago.

The Times reported that this was the British surprise at the speed of the capture of Kabul that the embassy’s evacuation protocols, which included the destruction of all data that could compromise Afghan personnel, had been broken.

The documents included the name and address of a prominent member of the embassy staff in Kabul, other staff members and their contact details, and the resumes and addresses of job seekers as interpreters, said the newspaper.

Calls made by The Times to the numbers of abandoned documents revealed that some of the listings had been evacuated to the UK in recent days.

Report by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru and Kate Holton in London; edition by Grant McCool and Philippa Fletcher

Our standards: the principles of trust of Thomson Reuters.