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AFGHANISTAN

Covert Facebook contacts seek Swedish military secrets

Swedish soldiers deployed in Afghanistan have been contacted via Facebook in an attempt to glean secret military information, according to Dagens Nyheter newspaper.

Published: 18 April 2009 11:43 CEST

It is unclear if one or more individuals – or an organization – are behind the incident.

Mårten Wallén, head of the information security unit at the Swedish Military Intelligence and Security Agency (MUST), confirmed the incident, although he did not want to reveal the number of soldiers who had been involved. The contact has occurred gradually, he said.

No one claimed to be an old friend, but rather used statements such as “how fun that you are on Facebook” or “I have also been in Afghanistan” prior to asking more detailed questions.

“During the first Facebook encounter, nothing was mentioned at all about their overseas deployment. Then it led to questions that were directly linked to the service and the mission,” he told DN.

The Swedish Armed Forces remain unsure about who might be responsible. According to Wallén, no soldiers have released any secret information.

“We have said that online communication is of course natural, but they should think twice before they upload pictures and give out information,” he said.

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AFGHANISTAN

Spain starts evacuating Afghan employees via Pakistan

Spain was on Monday evacuating via Pakistan Afghan helpers left behind when western forces quit Kabul, a government source confirmed on condition of anonymity.

Published: 11 October 2021 15:58 CEST
A group of Afghan nationals stand on the tarmac after disembarking from the last Spanish evacuation flight at the Torrejon de Ardoz air base near Madrid in August. Photo: PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP)
A group of Afghan nationals stand on the tarmac after disembarking from the last Spanish evacuation flight at the Torrejon de Ardoz air base near Madrid in August. Photo: PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP)

The government source declined to give any details of the move, citing security concerns.

But Spanish media, including daily El País and National Radio, reported that Madrid would bring close to 250 Afghan citizens, who had already crossed into Pakistan and would be flown out on military transport planes.

The first flight was expected to arrive on Monday evening.

Spain’s evacuations have been weeks in the making, with Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares visiting Pakistan and Qatar in early September to lay the groundwork.

Madrid evacuated over 2,000 people, most of them Afghans who had worked for Spain and their families, during the western withdrawal as the Taliban seized power in Kabul in August.

But the flights had to stop once the final American troops that had been protecting the Afghan capital’s airport left.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said in August that Spain would not “lose interest in the Afghans who had remained” in their country but wanted to leave.

The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, on Friday urged the bloc’s member states to host a “minimum” of between 10,000 and 20,000 more Afghan refugees.

“To welcome them, we have to evacuate them, and we’re getting down to it, but it’s not easy,” he said in Madrid.

The EU has said a demand by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to take in 42,500 Afghan refugees over five years can be achieved — although any decision lies with member states.

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