🔗 Share this article

A confidential source has told a parliamentary probe that British authorities failed to secure classified devices permitting the Taliban to track down local individuals who collaborated with western forces.

Information Leak Puts Numerous at Risk

The whistleblower, identified as Person A, testified that Afghans affected by the data leak were told to change residences and alter their contact details to ensure their safety from the Taliban.

MPs are currently examining the Conservative government's handling of a catastrophic disclosure of personal details concerning nearly 19,000 Afghans who had applied to move to Britain to flee the Taliban.

How the Leak Occurred

An electronic document with private information, such as names, phone numbers and sometimes household data, was accidentally leaked by an official working at special operations center in early 2022.

The leak came to light months later, when details of several individuals who had applied to move to Britain were posted on Facebook.

Regime's Resources

Many believe there's a false assumption that militant forces do not have comparable resources that western nations possess,” the whistleblower testified to lawmakers.

All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; they have it. Once they acquire your phone number, they can trace your precise location. That's precisely what intelligence groups did.”

When questioned about if militant forces owned necessary encryption, the whistleblower declared: “They've got everything.”

Impact of the Information Leak

Preliminary research submitted to the investigation suggested that approximately fifty relatives and associates of individuals impacted by the incident had been killed.

A superinjunction regarding the incident was implemented in August 2023 and prevented any information about it from public disclosure until mid-2025.

Security Recommendations

Due to legal constraints, the whistleblower and the aid group she collaborated with told affected households they were assisting that they had “apprehensions that mobile communications had been breached”.

“We recommended that they change residence when possible and switched their phone numbers. These represented the two main details that, should militant forces obtained this information, would lead to identification and capture,” she said.

Challenged Assessments

The whistleblower argued that internal investigation performed by a former official had been incorrect to state that the acquisition of the records by the Taliban was “not significantly alter present danger”.

“The crucial point is that affected people are not standing up to the Taliban; they live secretly. The primary issue involves former occupations.”

The source explained terrible treatment suffered by affected individuals, involving electric shock torture, waterboarding, and physical abuse.

“We have had toddlers who have had their arms broken to force relatives to say where someone is,” she testified.