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A confidential source has disclosed a parliamentary probe that the UK failed to secure classified devices allowing the militant group to locate Afghans that had served with western forces.

Information Leak Puts Thousands in Danger

Person A, known as Person A, stated that people concerned by the data leak were advised to relocate and change their contact details to avoid detection from the Taliban.

MPs are looking into the UK government's response of a serious leak of personal details concerning approximately 19k Afghans who had applied to move to the United Kingdom to escape the Taliban.

The Information Breach Was Discovered

A spreadsheet including their personal data, including names, contact details and occasionally relative details, was inadvertently disclosed by a staff member stationed at special operations center in last year.

The incident came to light months later, when identities of multiple applicants who had requested to settle in Britain appeared on online platforms.

Regime's Resources

It appears there is this misconception that the Taliban do not have comparable resources that western nations possess,” she told MPs.

All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; they possess it. Should they obtain a contact number, they can locate your exact position. This is exactly how intelligence groups accomplished.”

Under inquiry about whether the Taliban possessed necessary encryption, the source confirmed: “They've got everything.”

Consequences of the Data Breach

Preliminary research submitted to the committee suggested that no fewer than forty-nine family members and co-workers of individuals impacted by the breach had been executed.

A superinjunction concerning the incident was implemented in late 2023 and blocked all details concerning it from being made public until mid-2025.

Safety Measures

Given injunction limitations, the source and the volunteer organization she was working with informed Afghan families they were assisting that they had “concerns that mobile communications had been compromised”.

“We advised that they moved if they could and altered their phone numbers. Those were the two main details that, if authorities obtained such data, would cause their location being found,” the source testified.

Disputed Conclusions

The whistleblower argued that government assessment performed by a retired civil servant had been wrong to conclude that the obtaining of the dataset by the Taliban was “not significantly alter an individual's existing exposure”.

“The important fact is that affected people are in hiding from the authorities; they live secretly. Everything boils down to their previous employment.”

The source explained disturbing abuse experienced by concerned people, involving electrocution, interrogation techniques, and violent assaults.

“Instances include four-year-old children who have had bones crushed to force relatives to say where someone is,” she testified.