The Taliban in Afghanistan has threatened to behead informers who have been revealed following the explosive disclosure by WikiLeaks.
WikiLeaks has put out over 90,000 uncensored intelligence documents, causing a security scare. Countries which have their forces fighting in Afghanistan are pouring over the documents to see the extent of the damage.
The Taliban on Thursday night responded for the first time since the WikiLeaks expose of the names and locations of anti-Taliban informers, Daily Mail reported.
The terror group said, “We know how to punish them”, a reference to beheading that is a punishment for those whom they consider traitors.
The reaction came as officials in Britain said they were worried for those who had helped the British military in Afghanistan.
British officials in Kabul said the publication was “in the best case compromising informants and in the worst, putting their lives at risk”. “We are still involved in assessment but it will certainly discourage individuals from being prepared to co-operate with us,” an official was quoted in the Daily Mail.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called the expose “extremely irresponsible and shocking.”
{{/usCountry}}Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called the expose “extremely irresponsible and shocking.”
{{/usCountry}}Colonel Richard Kemp, former head of British forces in Afghanistan, said: “This is potentially damaging to operational security. Publishing this information online increases the enormous dangers our soldiers face. There are few things more valuable to the enemy than gaining insight into our plans. The Taliban will be poring over every one of the leaked documents with a fine toothcomb.”
The White House is imploring the website Wikileaks not to post any more classified documents about the Afghanistan war, saying U.S. national security and Afghan lives are at risk.
Press secretary Robert Gibbs says the leak of some 90,000 secret military documents already has jeopardized the lives of Afghans working with the US and its war allies.
Gibbs said the release of another 15,000 documents reportedly still held by Wikileaks would do more damage. Gibbs says the White House “can do nothing but implore the person who has the documents not to post any more.”
(With IANS and AP inputs)