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A whistleblower has told an official investigation that British authorities left behind classified equipment enabling Afghanistan's rulers to track down Afghans that had served with allied troops.

Information Leak Puts Numerous in Danger

Person A, called Person A, stated that people concerned by the security lapse were advised to change residences and alter their mobile numbers to ensure their safety from the Taliban.

Members of Parliament are investigating the Conservative government's response of a massive breach of personal details affecting approximately 19k Afghans who had applied to relocate to the UK to escape the regime.

How the Leak Happened

An electronic document including confidential details, such as identities, contact details and occasionally relative details, was accidentally leaked by an official employed at UK special forces headquarters in early 2022.

The leak came to light months later, when the names of nine people who had requested to move to the UK surfaced on social media.

Taliban Capabilities

“There seems to be a false assumption that the Taliban are without comparable resources that western nations possess,” she told MPs.

All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; they have it. Should they obtain a contact number, they can locate your exact position. That is what the unit achieved.”

Under inquiry about whether the Taliban owned necessary encryption, the whistleblower confirmed: “They have complete capability.”

Consequences of the Data Breach

Preliminary research provided to the investigation indicated that approximately fifty kin and colleagues of Afghans affected by the breach had been executed.

A legal restriction regarding the incident was implemented in August 2023 and prevented all details regarding the matter from public disclosure until July 2025.

Safety Measures

Because she was restricted, Person A and the non-governmental organization she was working with told affected households they were assisting that they had “apprehensions that somebody's phone had been breached”.

“Our suggestion was that they change residence if they could and changed their phone numbers. That constituted the crucial data that, should militant forces had access to these details, would result in identification and capture,” she said.

Contested Findings

The whistleblower contested that an official review carried out by a retired civil servant had been incorrect to conclude that the obtaining of the information by the regime was “minimally impact an individual's existing exposure”.

“The important fact is that affected people are not confronting the Taliban; they live secretly. All concerns relate to their previous employment.”

She detailed terrible abuse suffered by at-risk Afghans, including electrocution, waterboarding, and physical abuse.

“There are cases of four-year-old children who have had limbs fractured to try to get households to say where someone is,” the whistleblower revealed.