🔗 Share this article Afghan Rulers Utilized Discarded UK Equipment to Track Down Afghans Who Worked With Allied Troops, Inquiry Is Told A whistleblower has told a parliamentary probe that British authorities abandoned sensitive technology permitting Afghanistan's rulers to locate Afghans who worked with western forces. Data Breach Puts Thousands at Risk Person A, known as Person A, explained that people concerned by the information breach were instructed to change residences and switch their mobile numbers to avoid detection from the Taliban. MPs are currently examining the Conservative government's response of a serious breach of personal details involving nearly 19,000 Afghans who had asked to move to the UK to avoid the regime. How the Leak Occurred A data file with confidential details, comprising names, contact details and in some cases relative details, was mistakenly released by a worker employed at UK special forces headquarters in last year. The leak came to light in late 2023, when details of nine people who had sought to settle in Britain appeared on social media. Militant Technology It appears there is this misconception that militant forces are without comparable resources that we have,” Person A informed the committee. “We left it all behind in Afghanistan; they possess it. If they have a contact number, they can locate your precise location. This is exactly how specialized teams did.” Under inquiry about regarding if authorities owned necessary encryption, the whistleblower declared: “They have complete capability.” Consequences of the Information Leak Early investigations presented to the inquiry suggested that approximately fifty relatives and associates of people concerned by the incident had been killed. A gag order about the incident was implemented in August 2023 and restricted any information regarding the matter from media reporting until July 2025. Protective Actions Because she was restricted, Person A and the volunteer organization associated with advised affected households they were assisting that they had “concerns that somebody's phone had been breached”. “We recommended that they relocate if they could and changed their mobile numbers. These represented the primary information that, if authorities acquired these details, would lead to identification and capture,” Person A explained. Contested Findings The source contested that internal investigation carried out by a former official had been mistaken to determine that the obtaining of the dataset by the Taliban was “unlikely to substantially change current risk levels”. “The important fact is that these individuals are in hiding from the authorities; they are in hiding. All concerns relate to their previous employment.” She detailed disturbing violence experienced by at-risk Afghans, involving electrocution, interrogation techniques, and physical abuse. “We have had four-year-old children who have had their arms broken to force the family to say where someone is,” Person A stated.