Pentagon reviews leaked documents, unsure of source

The Pentagon on Monday said it is reviewing leaked documents related to the Afghanistan war on a whistleblower website, and it hasn't determined the leak's source yet.

Department spokesman Dave Lapan said the documents, more than 90,000 records of incidents and intelligence reports about the Afghanistan war, could "take a matter of days if not weeks" to review, so that officials can determine its potential damage to U. S. troops and allies, and national security.

Lapan said officials have "only seen a fraction of the documents purported to be out there," and until they review all of them, it can't be determined "exactly what the extent of the damage might be."

The Pentagon hasn't determined the source of the leak. Lapan said the documents appear to be at "secret" level, not "top secret " classification, and could have come from anyone with a secret- level clearance.

The documents, posted Sunday on Wikileaks and covering a period of time from January 2004 to December 2009, consisted of reports written by soldiers and intelligence officers mainly describing lethal military actions involving the U.S. military.

They include "intelligence information, reports of meetings with political figures, and related detail," according to the site, giving a blow-by-blow account of the war over the last six years, which has so far cost the lives of more than 1,000 U.S. troops.

Source: Xinhua