Afghanistan Times
Related Articles
KABUL — A controversial UK evacuation operation intended to rescue Afghan allies has come under fire after credible reports revealed that former Taliban fighters, sex offenders, and ex-prisoners may have been resettled in Britain due to serious failures in the vetting process.
According to a detailed investigation by The Telegraph, several individuals with clear links to the Taliban were among the thousands of Afghans flown to the UK as part of “Operation Rubific”—a covert British mission triggered by a 2022 data breach. That breach exposed the personal information of over 25,000 Afghans who had applied for relocation through schemes set up for those who had supported UK forces during the war, including interpreters and civil servants.
British authorities launched the airlift under a High Court super-injunction that, until this month, barred the press from reporting on the operation. Approximately 6,900 people were relocated under the scheme. However, insiders in Afghanistan allege that the system was widely abused.
“We had civilians in our office who had clear ties with the Taliban,” one former Afghan government official told The Telegraph. “They were taken to Britain and then introduced fighters as family members. Some people on the evacuation list named Taliban fighters as cousins, and now they are in the UK.”
Sources point to a widespread pattern in which corrupt Afghan officials—not genuine British allies—helped Taliban-linked individuals secure seats on evacuation flights. In many cases, British personnel appear to have relied on the recommendations of these corrupt insiders, enabling extremists and criminals to enter the UK.
“They were not only not friends of the UK—they were enemies,” said another Afghan official. “But they were better connected, had influence, and knew how to exploit the system.”
Among the cases identified:
- A man with Taliban sympathies who resettled in Britain before the fall of Kabul in 2021 and allegedly brought Taliban-linked relatives to join him.
- A former logistics worker who was imprisoned by coalition forces for selling weapons to the Taliban, and released after the Taliban’s 2021 takeover. He is currently living in Britain.
- A British passport holder accused of facilitating the evacuation of Taliban affiliates by vouching for them through the UK’s relocation program.
- An individual accused of sexual abuse of female workers, whose case is still being “processed,” though he has not yet entered Britain.
The UK Ministry of Defence confirmed the presence of some individuals named in the investigation but would not comment on their alleged extremist ties. It stated only that vetting includes “biographic and document checks,” but not personal recommendations alone.
Robert Clark, a former soldier and reservist who worked on the relocation scheme, earlier warned that many evacuees had not undergone full background screening. “There will be significant national security implications,” he said, “if individuals were brought over without determining whether they had been radicalised or maintained terrorist affiliations.”
Afghan sources say that while many true allies of the UK were left behind, individuals with money, connections, or political influence managed to get themselves—and even Taliban fighters—onto the evacuation lists.
“When my friends see them there, they call and say, ‘Wow, that guy is in London,’ while the top commander who vouched for him is still hiding here in Kabul,” said one senior Afghan source.
In the words of another former Afghan official, “They were fighting against British forces. They killed lots of Brits. But now they are being fed by the British in London. They have British blood on their hands.”
The revelations have reignited scrutiny over the UK’s handling of the Afghan withdrawal and its resettlement efforts, raising serious questions about national security, accountability, and the treatment of genuine allies left behind in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
Ask ChatGPT
