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A confidential source has disclosed the Afghan leak inquiry that the UK abandoned classified equipment allowing the militant group to track down Afghans who worked with western forces.

Data Breach Puts Thousands in Danger

The source, called Person A, testified that Afghans affected by the information breach were advised to relocate and switch their mobile numbers to avoid detection from the Taliban.

Members of Parliament are investigating the UK government's handling of a massive leak of confidential data involving approximately 19k individuals who had asked to relocate to the United Kingdom to flee the Taliban.

The Information Breach Occurred

A data file including confidential details, comprising identities, phone numbers and in some cases household data, was mistakenly released by a staff member working at special operations center in February 2022.

The incident became known only in August 2023, when the names of several individuals who had requested to relocate to Britain appeared on social media.

Regime's Resources

It appears there is a false assumption that the Taliban are without the same sort of facilities that allied forces use,” the whistleblower testified to lawmakers.

“We left it all behind in Afghanistan; they have it. Should they obtain a contact number, they can locate your precise location. That is what specialized teams achieved.”

Under inquiry about regarding if authorities owned sophisticated technology, the whistleblower stated: “They possess all resources.”

Impact of the Information Leak

Early investigations presented to the committee estimated that at least 49 kin and co-workers of people concerned by the leak had been killed.

A superinjunction concerning the breach was enacted in late 2023 and prevented relevant facts concerning it from being made public until July 2025.

Safety Measures

Because she was restricted, the source and the non-governmental organization associated with told individuals at risk they were assisting that they had “suspicions that certain devices had been compromised”.

“Our suggestion was that they relocate where feasible and changed their mobile numbers. Those were the primary information that, should militant forces acquired these details, would cause them being traced,” she said.

Disputed Conclusions

The source disputed that government assessment carried out by a retired civil servant had been incorrect to determine that the possession of the information by the Taliban was “unlikely to substantially change an individual's existing exposure”.

“The crucial point is that affected people are not confronting militant forces; they are in hiding. Everything boils down to past work history.”

She detailed horrific violence experienced by affected individuals, including electric shock torture, interrogation techniques, and severe beatings.

“We have had toddlers who have had limbs fractured to try to get relatives to reveal locations,” she testified.