By Sam Tobin and Andrew MacAskill

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain set up a secret scheme to bring thousands of Afghans to the UK after their personal details were disclosed in one of the country's worst ever data breaches, putting them at risk of reprisals from the Taliban after their return to power.

Concerns that individuals could be targeted by the Taliban led the previous Conservative government to set up the relocation scheme, involving thousands of people and estimated to cost the government about 2 billion pounds ($2.7 billion).

The leak by the Ministry of Defence in early 2022, which led to data being published on Facebook the following year, and the secret relocation programme, were subject to a so-called superinjunction preventing the media reporting what happened, which was lifted on Tuesday by a court.

British defence minister John Healey apologised for the leak, which included details about members of........

© Al Monitor