Pentagon secrets leak suspect held

FBI agents arrested a 21-year-old US Air Force national guardsman suspected of being behind a major leak of sensitive government secrets.

Broadcast live on TV networks, the dramatic arrest in the southern Massachusetts town of North Dighton was the culmination of a weeklong investigation into one of the most damaging leaks of classified information since the 2013 dump of National Security Agency documents by Edward Snowden.

Attorney General Merrick Garland named the suspect as Jack Teixeira, the reported leader of the Discord online chat group where the document trove first emerged.

Teixeira enlisted in September 2019 and is an IT and communications specialist who reached the rank of airman first class - the third-lowest for enlisted air force personnel.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he is ordering a "review of our intelligence access, accountability and control procedures."

According to The New York Times, a "trail of digital evidence" pointed to Teixeira as OG, the leader of Thug Shaker Central group.

The leak has revealed US unease over Ukrainian air defenses and the viability of its coming counteroffensive against Russia, and pointed to US spying on such allies as Israel and South Korea.

The group of around 24 people, some from Russia and Ukraine, bonded over "love of guns, military gear and God," and formed an "invitation-only clubhouse in 2020 on Discord," Washington Post said.

OG "spoke of the United States, and particularly law enforcement and the intelligence community, as a sinister force that sought to suppress its citizens and keep them in the dark," the Post said, citing a member.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE