US Republican congress members are demanding answers from the Biden administration following a disclosure that biometric data abandoned by the United States during its hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan is being used by the Islamic Emirate to target American allies still stuck in the war-torn nation, a media report said. 

According to the report of the Washington Free Beacon, the congress members believe that the Islamic Emirate is using the data to target former security forces and local Afghan allies of US and NATO forces.  

However, the Ministry of Interior denied the report. 

Eight Republican members of the senate committee, led by Sen. Marsha Blackburn, are asking the State and Defense Departments to turn over information related to the evacuation of US troops in Afghanistan, the Washington Free Beacon said.  

“These systems, which were abandoned when the US military withdrew from Afghanistan, contained iris scans, fingerprints, photographs, occupational data, home addresses, and names of relatives,” the senators wrote, according to a copy of the letter obtained exclusively by the Washington Free Beacon. “The Taliban is using this personal information to increase targeted killings, torture, and forced disappearances of Afghans who helped the United States.” 

Earlier, the US Department of Defense in a letter said military hardware worth $7 billion was left behind by US troops.  

“The biometric system should not be provided to the neighboring countries or others. The government is responsible for maintaining the secret and important national data,” said Hekmatullah Hekmat, a military veteran.  

“This can cause risks for the Afghanistan security system even for their (Islamic Emirate) government because if some of the groups under their command stand against them they could use the data against the Taliban,” said Asadullah Nadim, a military veteran.  

The Interior Ministry confirmed it has access to the biometric devices but denied it is using the information to target the former military and civilian personnel.  

“We have denied this claim many times--that the Islamic Emirate targets or threatens the former security forces through this. We deny it,” said Abul Nafay Takor, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior.  

Earlier, Human Rights Watch in a report claimed the biometric data left by the foreign troops put the lives of many Afghans at risk, but the current Afghan government denied it.