🔗 Share this article

A whistleblower has told a parliamentary probe that British authorities abandoned classified equipment permitting Afghanistan's rulers to locate Afghans that had served with international military.

Information Leak Puts Thousands in Danger

The source, identified as Person A, stated that Afghans affected by the security lapse were instructed to move homes and switch their mobile numbers to protect themselves from the Taliban.

Members of Parliament are currently examining the UK government's management of a catastrophic leak of confidential data involving almost nineteen thousand Afghans who had applied to come to the United Kingdom to avoid the regime.

Data Disclosure Was Discovered

A spreadsheet including confidential details, such as names, addresses and sometimes relative details, was accidentally leaked by a staff member working at British military command in early 2022.

The incident came to light months later, when details of several individuals who had applied to settle in Britain were posted on social media.

Taliban Capabilities

“There seems to be a misunderstanding that Afghan rulers are without comparable resources that allied forces use,” the whistleblower testified to the committee.

All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; it's in their hands. If they have your phone number, they are able to track your precise location. That is what the unit did.”

Under inquiry about regarding if authorities possessed sophisticated technology, the source declared: “They have complete capability.”

Aftermath of the Security Lapse

Initial findings submitted to the investigation suggested that approximately fifty relatives and co-workers of people concerned by the leak had been killed.

A legal restriction about the incident was enacted in last year and blocked any information about it from media reporting until July 2025.

Protective Actions

Due to legal constraints, Person A and the volunteer organization she was working with advised individuals at risk they were working with that they had “apprehensions that somebody's phone had been intercepted”.

“We advised that they change residence when possible and switched their phone numbers. Those were the crucial data that, should militant forces acquired this information, would lead to identification and capture,” she said.

Disputed Conclusions

The source contested that internal investigation performed by a former official had been mistaken to determine that the acquisition of the dataset by the Taliban was “not significantly alter an individual's existing exposure”.

“The thing to remember is that these Afghans are not confronting militant forces; they live secretly. Everything boils down to past work history.”

She detailed horrific treatment suffered by at-risk Afghans, including electrocution, waterboarding, and violent assaults.

“Instances include young kids who have had bones crushed to try to get relatives to reveal locations,” the whistleblower revealed.