Taliban Utilized Discarded British Technology to Find Afghans Who Worked Alongside Western Troops, Investigation Learns
A whistleblower has disclosed the Afghan leak inquiry that British authorities left behind classified technology enabling Afghanistan's rulers to locate Afghans who worked with western forces.
Data Breach Puts Numerous at Risk
Person A, identified as Person A, testified that individuals impacted by the data leak were told to relocate and change their mobile numbers to ensure their safety from the Taliban.
Lawmakers are looking into official management of a serious leak of private information concerning nearly 19,000 individuals who had applied to move to the UK to avoid militant rule.
The Information Breach Happened
An electronic document including their personal data, such as identities, addresses and occasionally household data, was mistakenly released by a worker working at UK special forces headquarters in last year.
The breach came to light only in August 2023, when details of nine people who had requested to move to Britain were posted on online platforms.
Regime's Resources
Many believe there's this misconception that Afghan rulers are without similar capabilities that allied forces use,” the whistleblower testified to MPs.
“We left it all behind in Afghanistan; they have it. Once they acquire a contact number, they can trace you down to within metres. That is what intelligence groups did.”
Under inquiry about whether the Taliban possessed necessary encryption, the source confirmed: “They've got everything.”
Consequences of the Information Leak
Initial findings provided to the inquiry estimated that no fewer than forty-nine kin and associates of individuals impacted by the leak had been killed.
A legal restriction regarding the leak was implemented in August 2023 and prevented all details concerning it from media reporting until mid-2025.
Security Recommendations
Given injunction limitations, Person A and the volunteer organization associated with informed Afghan families they were working with that they had “suspicions that mobile communications had been compromised”.
“We recommended that they change residence where feasible and changed their phone numbers. These represented the primary information that, if authorities had access to these details, would lead to identification and capture,” the source testified.
Disputed Conclusions
The source contested that government assessment conducted by a former official had been mistaken to determine that the acquisition of the records by the Taliban was “unlikely to substantially change present danger”.
“The important fact is that these Afghans are not standing up to the authorities; they are in hiding. The primary issue involves former occupations.”
Person A described disturbing violence suffered by affected individuals, including electric shock torture, waterboarding, and violent assaults.
“There are cases of young kids who have had their arms broken to try to get relatives to say where someone is,” she testified.
