Leaked US documents causing fears of identity threats

The leaked files, exposed by whistleblower organisation Wikileaks, contain thousands of reported incidents on the Afghan war, and US officers’ detailed logs of information often provided by tribal elders.

Warnings are emerging that the Taliban and al Qaeda could use the information for revenge attacks against informants considered to be traitors by insurgents.

However, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assenge assured that all documents released online where scanned for names and identities. Around 15,000 documents were not released.

An American newspaper said within just two hours of going through the documents, many names were singled out of Afghans credited with providing intelligence information to the US military.

"The leaks certainly have put in real risk and danger the lives and integrity of many Afghans," a senior official at the Afghan foreign ministry said.

US President Barack Obama said the leaked documents do not reveal anything dangerous, but publishing classified documents may put security at risk.

"I'm concerned about the disclosure of sensitive information from the battlefield, that could potentially jeopardise individuals or operations", Obama said.