Taliban Used Abandoned UK Equipment to Track Down Afghans Who Worked With Western Troops, Inquiry Is Told
An informant has told a parliamentary probe that the UK failed to secure confidential devices allowing the militant group to locate local individuals that had served with western forces.
Information Leak Endangers Numerous in Danger
The source, identified as Person A, stated that Afghans affected by the data leak were told to relocate and change their mobile numbers to ensure their safety from the Taliban.
Members of Parliament are looking into the UK government's response of a catastrophic leak of confidential data involving approximately 19k Afghans who had applied to come to Britain to flee the regime.
The Information Breach Was Discovered
A spreadsheet including their personal data, comprising names, phone numbers and occasionally relative details, was mistakenly released by an official stationed at UK special forces headquarters in early 2022.
The leak came to light only in August 2023, when the names of nine people who had sought to relocate to Britain appeared on online platforms.
Taliban Capabilities
It appears there is this misconception that militant forces lack similar capabilities that we have,” Person A informed lawmakers.
All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; they have it. Should they obtain a contact number, they can trace you down to within metres. That's precisely what intelligence groups accomplished.”
When questioned about if militant forces possessed necessary encryption, the source stated: “They possess all resources.”
Consequences of the Data Breach
Initial findings presented to the committee suggested that at least 49 family members and co-workers of Afghans affected by the breach had been murdered.
A legal restriction about the incident was enacted in last year and prevented relevant facts about it from being made public until July 2025.
Safety Measures
Given injunction limitations, Person A and the volunteer organization she collaborated with informed affected households they were supporting that they had “apprehensions that mobile communications had been intercepted”.
“We recommended that they relocate where feasible and switched their phone numbers. These represented the primary information that, if the Taliban had access to this information, would lead to them being traced,” Person A explained.
Disputed Conclusions
The whistleblower argued that government assessment conducted by a former official had been wrong to conclude that the possession of the records by the regime was “minimally impact current risk levels”.
“The important fact is that these individuals are in hiding from the Taliban; they are in hiding. Everything boils down to their previous employment.”
The source explained terrible treatment suffered by concerned people, involving electrocution, simulated drowning, and severe beatings.
“Instances include toddlers who have had limbs fractured to pressure relatives to say where someone is,” the whistleblower revealed.
