🔗 Share this article

An informant has revealed a parliamentary probe that British authorities failed to secure sensitive technology permitting Afghanistan's rulers to identify local individuals who collaborated with allied troops.

Information Leak Endangers Thousands in Danger

The source, identified as Person A, testified that individuals impacted by the security lapse were instructed to move homes and change their contact details to ensure their safety from the Taliban.

Lawmakers are currently examining the UK government's management of a massive breach of private information affecting nearly 19,000 individuals who had applied to move to Britain to escape militant rule.

How the Leak Was Discovered

A spreadsheet containing their personal data, including identities, phone numbers and sometimes household data, was accidentally leaked by a worker employed at special operations center in February 2022.

The leak became known in late 2023, when identities of multiple applicants who had sought to move to the UK were posted on online platforms.

Taliban Capabilities

It appears there is a misunderstanding that Afghan rulers lack similar capabilities that western nations possess,” she told lawmakers.

All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; they possess it. Once they acquire mobile details, they can trace your precise location. That is what specialized teams did.”

During testimony about if militant forces possessed necessary encryption, the source declared: “They have complete capability.”

Impact of the Information Leak

Early investigations presented to the investigation indicated that at least 49 kin and co-workers of individuals impacted by the breach had been murdered.

A legal restriction about the incident was enacted in August 2023 and prevented relevant facts concerning it from public disclosure until mid-2025.

Protective Actions

Given injunction limitations, Person A and the non-governmental organization associated with advised Afghan families they were supporting that they had “apprehensions that somebody's phone had been compromised”.

“We recommended that they moved if they could and switched their phone numbers. Those were the two main details that, should militant forces acquired this information, would result in their location being found,” she said.

Challenged Assessments

The whistleblower disputed that government assessment performed by a retired civil servant had been mistaken to conclude that the possession of the records by the regime was “unlikely to substantially change present danger”.

“The important fact is that affected people are in hiding from the Taliban; they remain concealed. All concerns relate to former occupations.”

Person A described disturbing abuse experienced by affected individuals, including electrocution, simulated drowning, and physical abuse.

“There are cases of toddlers who have had limbs fractured to try to get households to disclose hiding places,” she testified.