🔗 Share this article

An informant has told the Afghan leak inquiry that the UK failed to secure sensitive technology permitting Afghanistan's rulers to locate Afghans who collaborated with allied troops.

Information Leak Puts Thousands at Risk

Person A, known as Person A, explained that Afghans affected by the security lapse were instructed to move homes and change their phone numbers to avoid detection from the Taliban.

MPs are currently examining the Conservative government's response of a catastrophic breach of personal details involving almost nineteen thousand Afghans who had requested to come to the United Kingdom to avoid the regime.

How the Leak Occurred

An electronic document including private information, comprising names, phone numbers and sometimes household data, was mistakenly released by a worker working at British military command in early 2022.

The leak was discovered only in August 2023, when details of nine people who had sought to relocate to Britain surfaced on online platforms.

Militant Technology

“There seems to be this misconception that the Taliban do not have the same sort of facilities that allied forces use,” Person A informed the committee.

Technology was deserted in Afghanistan; it's in their hands. Once they acquire a contact number, they are able to track your exact position. That's precisely what intelligence groups did.”

Under inquiry about if militant forces had access to advanced decryption, the whistleblower confirmed: “They possess all resources.”

Aftermath of the Data Breach

Early investigations submitted to the investigation indicated that no fewer than forty-nine kin and co-workers of individuals impacted by the incident had been killed.

A gag order regarding the breach was put in force in last year and blocked all details regarding the matter from being made public until July 2025.

Protective Actions

Due to legal constraints, the source and the non-governmental organization she collaborated with advised individuals at risk they were supporting that they had “apprehensions that somebody's phone had been breached”.

“Our suggestion was that they moved if they could and altered their mobile numbers. These represented the crucial data that, should militant forces obtained these details, would result in identification and capture,” Person A explained.

Challenged Assessments

The whistleblower disputed that government assessment performed by a retired civil servant had been mistaken to state that the possession of the information by the regime was “minimally impact current risk levels”.

“The important fact is that affected people are in hiding from the Taliban; they live secretly. The primary issue involves former occupations.”

She detailed terrible violence endured by at-risk Afghans, comprising electrocution, simulated drowning, and violent assaults.

“There are cases of four-year-old children who have had limbs fractured to pressure households to reveal locations,” the whistleblower revealed.