🔗 Share this article

An informant has revealed an official investigation that British authorities left behind sensitive devices enabling the Taliban to track down Afghans who collaborated with allied troops.

Information Leak Puts Thousands in Danger

Person A, identified as Person A, stated that people concerned by the information breach were instructed to relocate and switch their mobile numbers to protect themselves from the ruling authorities.

Members of Parliament are looking into the Conservative government's handling of a massive breach of personal details concerning approximately 19k Afghans who had applied to move to the United Kingdom to flee the Taliban.

Data Disclosure Happened

A spreadsheet containing their personal data, including identities, contact details and occasionally relative details, was inadvertently disclosed by a worker working at British military command in February 2022.

The incident came to light only in August 2023, when the names of nine people who had applied to relocate to the UK surfaced on Facebook.

Militant Technology

Many believe there's a false assumption that the Taliban do not have similar capabilities that western nations possess,” Person A informed the committee.

All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; they possess it. Once they acquire mobile details, they are able to track your precise location. That's precisely what specialized teams accomplished.”

Under inquiry about if militant forces owned advanced decryption, the source confirmed: “They have complete capability.”

Consequences of the Data Breach

Preliminary research submitted to the inquiry suggested that at least 49 relatives and colleagues of individuals impacted by the incident had been killed.

A legal restriction regarding the leak was implemented in August 2023 and restricted any information concerning it from being made public until July 2025.

Safety Measures

Because she was restricted, the whistleblower and the non-governmental organization associated with told individuals at risk they were supporting that they had “concerns that somebody's phone had been breached”.

“We advised that they change residence if they could and switched their phone numbers. Those were the two main details that, if the Taliban had access to this information, would cause them being traced,” she said.

Challenged Assessments

The source disputed that internal investigation carried out by an ex-government employee had been incorrect to conclude that the possession of the information by militant forces was “unlikely to substantially change an individual's existing exposure”.

“The crucial point is that affected people are not confronting the authorities; they are in hiding. The primary issue involves former occupations.”

Person A described disturbing violence experienced by concerned people, involving electric shock torture, simulated drowning, and violent assaults.

“We have had four-year-old children who have had limbs fractured to try to get households to reveal locations,” she testified.