Global outrage over leak of 90,000 secret US military files

ISLAMABAD - The leak of some 90,000 secret US military files triggered outrage from nations fighting in Afghanistan, amid fears it could endanger the lives of international forces battling the Taliban.

Britain was one of the nations leading anger from the coalition engaged in the conflict, as the files exposed how Pakistan’s spy agency secretly supports the Taliban and the deaths of civilians have been concealed.

Britain said it regretted the leak of tens of thousands of secret military files about the Afghanistan war, which have thrown the spotlight on civilian deaths there, but again called on Pakistan to dismantle all terrorist groups operating on its soil.

“We would lament all unauthorised releases of classified material,” a Downing Street spokeswoman said. “The White House has made a statement. We will not comment on leaked documents.”

Speaking in Brussels on the sidelines of talks with his EU counterparts, Britain’s Foreign Minister William Hague said he hoped the revelations “will not poison” the atmosphere in Afghanistan.

“I haven’t seen those in detail, but they should not be damaging to the international effort,” The Daily Times quoted him, as saying.

Meanwhile, Germany demanded close scrutiny of claims about Iranian and Pakistani aid to the Taliban.

“We have to examine what new information there could be” within thousands of secret files released by the WikiLeaks website, said German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.

The German Defence Ministry strongly criticised the leaks and said it was looking into the files, although it added that much of the information was not new.

“Obtaining and releasing documents, some of them secret, on such a scale is a highly questionable practice since it could affect the national security of NATO allies and the whole NATO mission,” a defence ministry spokesman said. “We are examining the countless documents to see if our security interests could also be affected.” (ANI)