Pentagon documents leak a risk to US national security, officials say

A leak of classified US Defence Department documents is simply a "very serious" hazard to nationalist security, the Pentagon has said.

The documents look to see delicate accusation regarding the warfare successful Ukraine, arsenic good arsenic connected China and US allies.

Officials accidental the files are successful a format akin to documents issued to elder leaders.

An probe has been opened to find the root of the leak.

The documents - immoderate of which officials judge person been altered - archetypal appeared connected online platforms specified arsenic Twitter, 4chan and Telegram, arsenic good arsenic connected a Discord server for the video crippled "Minecraft".

In summation to highly elaborate accusation astir the warfare successful Ukraine, immoderate of the leaked documents are said to formed airy connected delicate briefing materials relating to US allies.

Other documents reportedly absorption connected defence and information issues successful the Middle East arsenic good arsenic successful the Indo-Pacific region.

Speaking to reporters connected Monday, a high-ranking Pentagon authoritative said the documents were "a precise superior hazard to nationalist information and person the imaginable to dispersed disinformation".

"We're inactive investigating however this happened, arsenic good arsenic the scope of the issue," said Chris Meagher, the adjunct to the caput of defence for nationalist affairs.

"There person been steps to instrumentality a person look astatine however this benignant of accusation is distributed and to whom."

Mr Meagher declined to reply erstwhile asked if the Pentagon believes the documents to beryllium genuine, though helium said that immoderate "appear to person been altered".

The Justice Department is present investigating the leak, alongside officials from the Pentagon, White House and elsewhere successful the US government.

The format of the documents is akin to that "used to supply regular updates to our elder leaders connected Ukraine and Russia-related operations, arsenic good arsenic different quality updates," Mr Meagher added.

The Pentagon archetypal became alert of the papers leak past week, with Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin archetypal briefed connected the substance connected 6 April, helium said.

Mr Meagher said that the papers leak has prompted US officials to reassure its allies "of our committedness to safeguarding quality and fidelity to our information partnerships".

At a abstracted briefing, nationalist information spokesperson John Kirby said that US President Joe Biden was archetypal briefed astir the leak past week.

When asked whether the leak has truthful acold been contained and whether different documents person yet to beryllium released, Mr Kirby said "I don't know".

BBC News has truthful acold reviewed much than 20 of the documents, galore of which look to item the deployment and authorities of Ukrainian and Russian forces up of a long-awaited outpouring violative by Ukrainian forces.

Some documents, for example, look to outline US grooming and instrumentality being provided to Ukraine up of the offensive, arsenic good arsenic erstwhile assorted Ukrainian units volition beryllium acceptable and the anticipated transportation clip of subject supplies.

While Mr Meagher declined to remark connected the imaginable interaction that the documents could person connected the beforehand lines successful Ukraine, helium said that "the Ukrainians person demonstrated their capableness and competence successful this war".

"The president and caput [of defence] person some made wide that the United States is going to beryllium with them for arsenic agelong arsenic it takes," helium said.