Several of the Afghans on the "death list", which leaked in 2022 and contained names and information about people who had applied for asylum in the United Kingdom, are believed to have fled to Iran, escaping the Taliban's Afghanistan. The document also contains information about British soldiers and intelligence employees.
The leak was considered so serious that the British government prohibited the media from reporting on it, writes The Telegraph.
A high-ranking Iranian official tells the newspaper that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard asked the Taliban for the list and that a "special committee" has been set up to get hold of the names. Tehran is assumed to be focusing on people connected to the British MI6.
There have been discussions about cooperation between Tehran and Kabul in this matter, as it can help both countries in negotiations with the West, the source says.
Accused of espionage
Also in Afghanistan, orders have been given to arrest as many as possible from the leaked documents, writes The Telegraph.
Since the twelve-day war between Iran and Israel earlier this summer, Afghans have become increasingly vulnerable. Iran has arrested thousands and mass-deported hundreds of thousands. Espionage allegations have been pouring in against the group, and according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR, on average, more than 30,000 Afghans per day have crossed the border from Iran to their old home country since the war in June.
Back in Afghanistan, they face a bleak existence. A quarter of the population is facing acute food shortages, according to the UN's food agency WFP. The food shortage is expected to worsen due to the mass deportations, which have also taken place from Pakistan.
Generals and colonels
An Afghan man who was on the British list and who fled to Tehran after the leak was recently arrested in Iran and deported to Afghanistan.
In Kabul, he is constantly on the run. Every night is spent in a new place, and he fears for his own life and for his wife and children who are still in Iran, he tells The Telegraph.
They can come and kill me at any time, he says and criticizes the United Kingdom for not having helped him out of the country when it was taken over by the Taliban in 2021.
They took the cooks with them, but left generals and colonels. How is that reasonable?
In 2001, the US-led invasion, which the United Kingdom and NATO participated in, ousted the Taliban from power in Afghanistan.
Many other countries, including Sweden, then sent troops and resources in an attempt to stabilize the country.
But 20 years later, in 2021, the Western powers left Afghanistan under chaotic circumstances. Many Afghans who had cooperated with the West were left behind, despite the serious threat from the hardline Taliban movement that regained power.
Since then, the country has been characterized by an even worse shortage of necessities and human rights abuses committed by the ruling fundamentalists.
