Taliban Used Discarded UK Technology to Track Down Afghans Who Worked With Western Troops, Inquiry Is Told
An informant has revealed a parliamentary probe that the UK failed to secure confidential technology enabling the militant group to identify local individuals who collaborated with allied troops.
Information Leak Endangers Thousands at Risk
The source, known as Person A, testified that Afghans affected by the security lapse were told to move homes and alter their mobile numbers to ensure their safety from the Taliban.
Members of Parliament are investigating official response of a serious leak of private information concerning approximately 19k individuals who had requested to move to Britain to escape the Taliban.
How the Leak Occurred
A data file with confidential details, comprising names, contact details and occasionally family information, was mistakenly released by a staff member employed at British military command in early 2022.
The breach came to light in late 2023, when details of multiple applicants who had sought to relocate to Britain surfaced on Facebook.
Regime's Resources
“There seems to be a false assumption that militant forces do not have the same sort of facilities that we have,” Person A informed the committee.
All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; they have it. If they have a contact number, they can trace your precise location. That's precisely what the unit did.”
Under inquiry about if militant forces had access to advanced decryption, Person A confirmed: “They've got everything.”
Consequences of the Security Lapse
Initial findings presented to the inquiry indicated that at least 49 relatives and co-workers of people concerned by the leak had been executed.
A superinjunction about the breach was put in force in last year and blocked any information regarding the matter from public disclosure until July 2025.
Security Recommendations
Because she was restricted, the whistleblower and the aid group she collaborated with informed individuals at risk they were assisting that they had “apprehensions that mobile communications had been breached”.
“We advised that they change residence if they could and switched their contact details. Those were the primary information that, if the Taliban had access to this information, would cause identification and capture,” Person A explained.
Disputed Conclusions
The source disputed that internal investigation carried out by an ex-government employee had been incorrect to state that the acquisition of the dataset by the regime was “not significantly alter an individual's existing exposure”.
“The important fact is that these individuals are in hiding from the authorities; they are in hiding. The primary issue involves former occupations.”
Person A described horrific treatment endured by at-risk Afghans, involving electric shock torture, simulated drowning, and violent assaults.
“There are cases of young kids who have had limbs fractured to force relatives to disclose hiding places,” Person A stated.
