After yet another major leak, a large number of classified US national security documents have surfaced online, according to the New York Times, which also notes that the new documents contain “sensitive” information relating to terrorism, China, the Middle East and Ukraine. .
A day after more “top secret” documents revealing US and NATO attack plans in Ukraine circulated on social media, there was another leak.
In what a senior US intelligence official called a “nightmare” for Western security services, the new cache of papers was discovered on Twitter and other sites on Friday afternoon, according to the NYT. The site speculated that the most recent breach could have “more than 100 documents” in total, while the full extent of the leak has yet to be discovered and the authenticity of the files has not yet been determined. not been confirmed.
Some of the files contain information about intelligence relating to the Ukraine crisis, similar to another classified disclosure that was initially revealed on Thursday. After months of fierce fighting, Moscow has largely taken control of the city of Artyomovsk (also known as Bakhmut in Ukraine), according to a “top secret” document.
The NYT went on to say that the scope of the breach appears to have caught the White House “off guard,” adding that the new leak doesn’t stop at Ukraine and covers a variety of other topics, including ” sensitive briefing slides on China, the Indo-Pacific Military Theater, Middle East and Terrorism.”
The Justice Department then announced its own independent investigation after the Pentagon said Thursday it would investigate the incident. She claimed to be in contact with military authorities, but neither party provided further information.
Officials promised to remove the information from the internet after the initial breach this week, but numerous recordings are still available on social media, suggesting they were unsuccessful.
Finding the source of the leak would start with “identifying which officials had access to it,” according to an unnamed official quoted by the NYT. Many national security agency workers have spoken of a ‘rush’ to identify the funder and expressed concern that this week’s revelations will turn into a ‘regular drip of classified information’ released online. .