🔗 Share this article Taliban Employed Discarded British Technology to Locate Afghans That Served Alongside Allied Forces, Inquiry Hears A confidential source has revealed the Afghan leak inquiry that British authorities left behind sensitive equipment allowing the Taliban to track down Afghans who worked with allied troops. Data Breach Endangers Numerous in Danger The source, called Person A, explained that individuals impacted by the information breach were told to move homes and change their contact details to protect themselves from the ruling authorities. Lawmakers are investigating official handling of a catastrophic breach of confidential data concerning nearly 19,000 Afghans who had requested to relocate to Britain to flee the Taliban. Data Disclosure Happened A spreadsheet with confidential details, including names, contact details and in some cases household data, was inadvertently disclosed by an official stationed at UK special forces headquarters in early 2022. The leak became known only in August 2023, when identities of nine people who had applied to relocate to the UK surfaced on online platforms. Militant Technology “There seems to be a misunderstanding that Afghan rulers lack comparable resources that we have,” she told MPs. Technology was deserted in Afghanistan; they possess it. Once they acquire mobile details, they are able to track you down to within metres. This is exactly how specialized teams did.” When questioned about whether the Taliban possessed necessary encryption, the whistleblower declared: “They possess all resources.” Impact of the Data Breach Initial findings presented to the committee indicated that at least 49 kin and co-workers of individuals impacted by the incident had been murdered. A legal restriction concerning the breach was put in force in late 2023 and restricted all details concerning it from being made public until July 2025. Safety Measures Due to legal constraints, the whistleblower and the aid group she collaborated with advised individuals at risk they were supporting that they had “suspicions that certain devices had been intercepted”. “We recommended that they change residence if they could and altered their phone numbers. Those were the two main details that, should militant forces had access to such data, would lead to identification and capture,” the source testified. Challenged Assessments Person A contested that an official review performed by a former official had been mistaken to conclude that the obtaining of the dataset by the Taliban was “not significantly alter an individual's existing exposure”. “The important fact is that affected people are in hiding from militant forces; they are in hiding. All concerns relate to their previous employment.” The source explained disturbing abuse endured by concerned people, including electric shock torture, simulated drowning, and physical abuse. “We have had four-year-old children who have had limbs fractured to try to get households to disclose hiding places,” the whistleblower revealed.