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An informant has revealed an official investigation that the UK left behind sensitive devices permitting the Taliban to identify local individuals who collaborated with allied troops.

Data Breach Endangers Numerous in Danger

The source, known as Person A, testified that Afghans affected by the information breach were told to move homes and switch their mobile numbers to avoid detection from the Taliban.

Members of Parliament are looking into official handling of a massive disclosure of personal details affecting almost nineteen thousand individuals who had requested to move to Britain to avoid militant rule.

The Information Breach Was Discovered

A data file including confidential details, such as names, addresses and occasionally family information, was inadvertently disclosed by an official working at UK special forces headquarters in early 2022.

The breach came to light in late 2023, when identities of multiple applicants who had sought to settle in the UK were posted on Facebook.

Taliban Capabilities

It appears there is a false assumption that militant forces lack comparable resources that allied forces use,” she told lawmakers.

“We left it all behind in Afghanistan; it's in their hands. Once they acquire your phone number, they can trace your exact position. This is exactly how specialized teams did.”

During testimony about regarding if authorities owned advanced decryption, the source stated: “They've got everything.”

Aftermath of the Information Leak

Initial findings submitted to the investigation indicated that approximately fifty family members and colleagues of Afghans affected by the leak had been executed.

A legal restriction about the leak was put in force in August 2023 and blocked any information about it from media reporting until July 2025.

Safety Measures

Due to legal constraints, the source and the non-governmental organization associated with advised affected households they were working with that they had “apprehensions that mobile communications had been intercepted”.

“We recommended that they moved if they could and changed their contact details. These represented the crucial data that, should militant forces obtained such data, would lead to their location being found,” she said.

Challenged Assessments

The whistleblower disputed that government assessment carried out by a retired civil servant had been wrong to conclude that the acquisition of the dataset by the regime was “unlikely to substantially change current risk levels”.

“The important fact is that these Afghans are in hiding from the authorities; they are in hiding. Everything boils down to past work history.”

The source explained terrible abuse endured by affected individuals, comprising electric shock torture, simulated drowning, and violent assaults.

“Instances include young kids who have had bones crushed to force the family to reveal locations,” Person A stated.