US intel leak includes Ukraine war, Mossad details: Is America spying on allies?

The United States officials scrambled to probe the source of the apparent leak after a trove of highly classified military and intelligence documents appeared online.

The leak of confidential documents is embarrassing for the US and dangerous for American allies as it has divulged details ranging from Ukraine's air defences to Israel's Mossad spy agency.

An official even said that the concerning leak suggests they may have been leaked by an American rather than an ally as it had documents relating to the Russia-Ukraine war, China, the Middle East and Africa, South Korea and more.

Michael Mulroy, a former senior Pentagon official, told Reuters in an interview: "The focus now is on this being a US leak, as many of the documents were only in US hands."

There's no confirmation, but US officials have alleged that Russia or pro-Russian elements are likely behind the leak of classified military documents posted. However, Moscow did not immediately respond to the allegations.

The leaked documents included secret intelligence reports and it appeared that some of the documents may have been altered before they were posted. Two US officials told Reuters on Sunday that they have not ruled out that the documents may have been doctored to mislead investigators as to their origin or to disseminate false information that may harm US security interests.

WATCH |Pentagon investigating leak of secret Ukrainian documents

Is the US spying on allies?

One document reportedly revealed that the Mossad intelligence agency was encouraging protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to tighten controls on the Supreme Court.

The Pentagon said it was reviewing the validity of the photographed documents that "appear to contain sensitive and highly classified material" and it has referred the issue to the Department of Justice, after which a criminal investigation was opened.

Some documents labelled as "Secret" and "Top Secret" were seen during the initial batch and they were found on social media platforms. They were dated March 1. News agency Reuters said that it has reviewed more than 50 documents.

The document said the US learned this through signals intelligence, suggesting the United States had been spying on one of its most important allies in the Middle East.

Netanyahu's office released a statement on Sunday, describing the assertion as "mendacious and without any foundation whatsoever."

Another document gave details of internal discussions among senior South Korean officials about US pressure on Seoul to help supply weapons to Ukraine, and its policy of not doing so.

A South Korean presidential official said on Sunday the country was aware of news reports about the leaked documents and it plans to discuss "issues raised" with Washington.

South Korea's opposition lawmakers expressed "strong regret" over the spying allegations, calling them a clear violation of the country's sovereignty and a major security failure of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.

"We strongly demand a thorough investigation and urge that similar incidents do not occur," the lawmakers of the Democratic Party said in a joint statement.

(With inputs from agencies)

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