🔗 Share this article

An informant has told a parliamentary probe that the UK abandoned confidential devices allowing the militant group to locate Afghans who collaborated with allied troops.

Information Leak Puts Numerous at Risk

The whistleblower, identified as Person A, explained that Afghans affected by the data leak were advised to relocate and switch their phone numbers to avoid detection from the Taliban.

Members of Parliament are currently examining the Conservative government's response of a serious disclosure of confidential data affecting almost nineteen thousand individuals who had requested to relocate to Britain to escape the Taliban.

Data Disclosure Occurred

A spreadsheet containing their personal data, comprising identities, contact details and occasionally household data, was inadvertently disclosed by an official working at UK special forces headquarters in early 2022.

The incident came to light only in August 2023, when identities of nine people who had requested to settle in Britain surfaced on Facebook.

Regime's Resources

It appears there is a false assumption that the Taliban are without comparable resources that we have,” Person A informed MPs.

Technology was deserted in Afghanistan; they possess it. Once they acquire mobile details, they can trace your exact position. That is what the unit did.”

During testimony about whether the Taliban had access to necessary encryption, the source stated: “They have complete capability.”

Impact of the Data Breach

Initial findings presented to the committee estimated that approximately fifty family members and associates of Afghans affected by the incident had been murdered.

A gag order regarding the incident was put in force in August 2023 and blocked any information about it from being made public until July 2025.

Security Recommendations

Given injunction limitations, the whistleblower and the volunteer organization she collaborated with advised individuals at risk they were working with that they had “suspicions that somebody's phone had been intercepted”.

“Our suggestion was that they moved where feasible and switched their mobile numbers. That constituted the two main details that, if authorities had access to such data, would result in their location being found,” the source testified.

Contested Findings

Person A contested that government assessment conducted by a former official had been mistaken to conclude that the acquisition of the information by militant forces was “unlikely to substantially change current risk levels”.

“The thing to remember is that affected people are not confronting militant forces; they remain concealed. All concerns relate to former occupations.”

Person A described disturbing treatment endured by concerned people, comprising electrocution, simulated drowning, and violent assaults.

“We have had young kids who have had bones crushed to pressure relatives to reveal locations,” she testified.