Afghan Rulers Utilized Left-Behind British Technology to Track Down Local Nationals That Served With Western Forces, Inquiry Is Told
A whistleblower has disclosed a parliamentary probe that the UK abandoned confidential equipment enabling Afghanistan's rulers to locate local individuals that had served with allied troops.
Information Leak Puts Numerous in Danger
Person A, known as Person A, explained that people concerned by the security lapse were told to move homes and change their mobile numbers to avoid detection from the Taliban.
MPs are investigating the UK government's management of a catastrophic disclosure of private information affecting almost nineteen thousand Afghans who had requested to move to the United Kingdom to avoid the Taliban.
How the Leak Occurred
An electronic document containing their personal data, including names, contact details and sometimes relative details, was mistakenly released by a worker employed at special operations center in February 2022.
The incident became known in late 2023, when the names of nine people who had requested to move to the UK surfaced on online platforms.
Militant Technology
It appears there is a misunderstanding that the Taliban are without comparable resources that we have,” Person A informed lawmakers.
Technology was deserted in Afghanistan; they possess it. Should they obtain a contact number, they are able to track your exact position. That is what specialized teams did.”
During testimony about regarding if authorities possessed advanced decryption, the source declared: “They've got everything.”
Impact of the Data Breach
Preliminary research provided to the committee suggested that at least 49 family members and co-workers of people concerned by the leak had been killed.
A legal restriction regarding the breach was implemented in last year and blocked all details about it from public disclosure until July 2025.
Safety Measures
Due to legal constraints, Person A and the volunteer organization she was working with advised Afghan families they were supporting that they had “apprehensions that certain devices had been breached”.
“Our suggestion was that they relocate when possible and switched their mobile numbers. That constituted the two main details that, if authorities obtained this information, would cause them being traced,” she said.
Contested Findings
The whistleblower contested that an official review carried out by a retired civil servant had been incorrect to state that the possession of the records by the Taliban was “not significantly alter an individual's existing exposure”.
“The important fact is that affected people are in hiding from militant forces; they remain concealed. All concerns relate to former occupations.”
The source explained horrific treatment experienced by concerned people, involving electric shock torture, interrogation techniques, and violent assaults.
“We have had young kids who have had their arms broken to force households to say where someone is,” the whistleblower revealed.
