Taliban Used Abandoned British Equipment to Track Down Afghans Who Worked Alongside Allied Troops, Inquiry Learns
An informant has revealed an official investigation that British authorities left behind classified technology enabling the Taliban to track down local individuals that had served with allied troops.
Information Leak Endangers Numerous in Danger
The source, called Person A, explained that people concerned by the data leak were told to move homes and switch their phone numbers to avoid detection from the ruling authorities.
MPs are looking into official response of a serious leak of private information affecting nearly 19,000 Afghans who had applied to relocate to the United Kingdom to flee militant rule.
How the Leak Was Discovered
A spreadsheet containing confidential details, such as identities, phone numbers and in some cases relative details, was mistakenly released by a worker stationed at UK special forces headquarters in February 2022.
The breach was discovered months later, when details of nine people who had requested to relocate to Britain appeared on online platforms.
Militant Technology
Many believe there's this misconception that Afghan rulers do not have comparable resources that western nations possess,” Person A informed the committee.
“We left it all behind in Afghanistan; they have it. If they have a contact number, they are able to track you down to within metres. That is what intelligence groups did.”
Under inquiry about regarding if authorities owned advanced decryption, the source declared: “They've got everything.”
Aftermath of the Data Breach
Early investigations presented to the inquiry indicated that at least 49 kin and associates of people concerned by the breach had been killed.
A legal restriction regarding the breach was put in force in late 2023 and blocked any information regarding the matter from public disclosure until mid-2025.
Security Recommendations
Because she was restricted, the whistleblower and the volunteer organization associated with advised Afghan families they were working with that they had “apprehensions that mobile communications had been breached”.
“We recommended that they change residence where feasible and switched their contact details. That constituted the primary information that, if the Taliban acquired these details, would cause identification and capture,” she said.
Contested Findings
The whistleblower contested that government assessment carried out by a former official had been mistaken to conclude that the possession of the information by militant forces was “not significantly alter current risk levels”.
“The important fact is that affected people are not standing up to militant forces; they remain concealed. The primary issue involves their previous employment.”
Person A described horrific treatment suffered by concerned people, comprising electrocution, waterboarding, and physical abuse.
“Instances include four-year-old children who have had limbs fractured to force relatives to reveal locations,” the whistleblower revealed.
