Afghan Rulers Used Discarded British Equipment to Locate Afghans Who Worked With Western Troops, Investigation Is Told
A whistleblower has disclosed a parliamentary probe that British authorities left behind classified devices allowing the militant group to locate local individuals who worked with western forces.
Data Breach Puts Numerous at Risk
Person A, known as Person A, explained that Afghans affected by the security lapse were advised to relocate and alter their mobile numbers to avoid detection from the Taliban.
Lawmakers are looking into the Conservative government's management of a catastrophic disclosure of personal details affecting approximately 19k Afghans who had requested to come to Britain to escape the regime.
Data Disclosure Happened
A data file including confidential details, comprising identities, phone numbers and sometimes household data, was accidentally leaked by a worker stationed at British military command in last year.
The leak was discovered in late 2023, when identities of several individuals who had applied to settle in the UK appeared on online platforms.
Regime's Resources
It appears there is this misconception that militant forces lack comparable resources that we have,” the whistleblower testified to MPs.
All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; they have it. If they have mobile details, they can locate you down to within metres. That's precisely what intelligence groups accomplished.”
When questioned about if militant forces had access to necessary encryption, the whistleblower stated: “They possess all resources.”
Aftermath of the Security Lapse
Initial findings presented to the investigation indicated that approximately fifty relatives and colleagues of individuals impacted by the incident had been murdered.
A superinjunction regarding the incident was put in force in late 2023 and restricted relevant facts about it from being made public until July 2025.
Security Recommendations
Because she was restricted, Person A and the non-governmental organization she collaborated with advised affected households they were assisting that they had “apprehensions that somebody's phone had been breached”.
“Our suggestion was that they relocate if they could and altered their phone numbers. These represented the crucial data that, if authorities had access to these details, would lead to them being traced,” the source testified.
Disputed Conclusions
The source disputed that internal investigation carried out by a former official had been incorrect to state that the possession of the dataset by the regime was “minimally impact present danger”.
“The important fact is that these individuals are not confronting militant forces; they remain concealed. Everything boils down to former occupations.”
The source explained disturbing violence suffered by affected individuals, involving electric shock torture, waterboarding, and severe beatings.
“We have had young kids who have had bones crushed to pressure relatives to reveal locations,” she testified.