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A confidential source has disclosed an official investigation that British authorities left behind classified devices enabling the militant group to track down local individuals that had served with western forces.

Information Leak Puts Numerous in Danger

The source, called Person A, stated that Afghans affected by the data leak were told to relocate and change their phone numbers to protect themselves from the ruling authorities.

MPs are looking into the UK government's response of a catastrophic breach of confidential data involving almost nineteen thousand individuals who had asked to move to the United Kingdom to flee militant rule.

How the Leak Was Discovered

A spreadsheet including confidential details, including identities, phone numbers and occasionally household data, was mistakenly released by a staff member stationed at UK special forces headquarters in last year.

The leak was discovered in late 2023, when identities of several individuals who had applied to move to the UK were posted on Facebook.

Regime's Resources

“There seems to be a misunderstanding that militant forces do not have comparable resources that western nations possess,” the whistleblower testified to the committee.

All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; it's in their hands. If they have a contact number, they can locate your precise location. That's precisely what the unit did.”

During testimony about regarding if authorities owned necessary encryption, Person A declared: “They've got everything.”

Impact of the Data Breach

Preliminary research submitted to the committee indicated that approximately fifty family members and colleagues of individuals impacted by the leak had been killed.

A superinjunction concerning the leak was put in force in late 2023 and prevented all details regarding the matter from being made public until July 2025.

Safety Measures

Due to legal constraints, the source and the volunteer organization associated with advised affected households they were working with that they had “apprehensions that certain devices had been breached”.

“We recommended that they relocate if they could and switched their contact details. That constituted the crucial data that, if authorities obtained this information, would lead to their location being found,” the source testified.

Challenged Assessments

The whistleblower argued that government assessment conducted by a retired civil servant had been incorrect to state that the acquisition of the dataset by the Taliban was “minimally impact current risk levels”.

“The important fact is that these Afghans are not confronting militant forces; they live secretly. The primary issue involves past work history.”

She detailed terrible abuse experienced by at-risk Afghans, involving electrocution, waterboarding, and severe beatings.

“We have had young kids who have had limbs fractured to force the family to reveal locations,” the whistleblower revealed.