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An informant has revealed the Afghan leak inquiry that British authorities left behind classified equipment enabling the Taliban to track down Afghans who collaborated with western forces.

Data Breach Endangers Thousands at Risk

The whistleblower, called Person A, testified that individuals impacted by the security lapse were advised to move homes and alter their mobile numbers to protect themselves from the Taliban.

MPs are looking into the UK government's response of a massive disclosure of private information involving nearly 19,000 individuals who had requested to move to the UK to avoid militant rule.

Data Disclosure Was Discovered

A spreadsheet containing their personal data, such as names, contact details and in some cases household data, was mistakenly released by a worker stationed at special operations center in February 2022.

The breach was discovered months later, when details of nine people who had requested to settle in Britain appeared on online platforms.

Militant Technology

“There seems to be a false assumption that militant forces are without comparable resources that we have,” the whistleblower testified to MPs.

Technology was deserted in Afghanistan; they possess it. Should they obtain a contact number, they are able to track your exact position. That's precisely what specialized teams accomplished.”

During testimony about whether the Taliban possessed necessary encryption, the whistleblower declared: “They have complete capability.”

Aftermath of the Security Lapse

Early investigations presented to the investigation suggested that approximately fifty kin and co-workers of Afghans affected by the leak had been executed.

A gag order about the leak was enacted in last year and blocked relevant facts regarding the matter from media reporting until mid-2025.

Safety Measures

Because she was restricted, Person A and the aid group she collaborated with informed Afghan families they were assisting that they had “suspicions that certain devices had been compromised”.

“We recommended that they relocate where feasible and changed their contact details. That constituted the primary information that, if the Taliban obtained such data, would cause their location being found,” she said.

Disputed Conclusions

Person A argued that internal investigation performed by a former official had been mistaken to determine that the possession of the information by the Taliban was “unlikely to substantially change present danger”.

“The important fact is that affected people are in hiding from militant forces; they live secretly. The primary issue involves past work history.”

The source explained terrible violence suffered by concerned people, including electrocution, simulated drowning, and violent assaults.

“Instances include young kids who have had bones crushed to pressure relatives to say where someone is,” Person A stated.