Taliban Used Discarded British Technology to Track Down Local Nationals Who Worked With Western Troops, Inquiry Is Told

An informant has told the Afghan leak inquiry that the UK failed to secure classified technology enabling the Taliban to locate Afghans that had served with international military.

Information Leak Endangers Thousands in Danger

The whistleblower, identified as Person A, testified that individuals impacted by the security lapse were advised to move homes and switch their phone numbers to protect themselves from militant forces.

Lawmakers are investigating the UK government's handling of a serious leak of confidential data affecting approximately 19k Afghans who had requested to relocate to the UK to flee the regime.

Data Disclosure Occurred

An electronic document with private information, comprising names, addresses and in some cases family information, was inadvertently disclosed by an official working at British military command in early 2022.

The breach was discovered only in August 2023, when the names of multiple applicants who had requested to relocate to the UK appeared on online platforms.

Regime's Resources

It appears there is a false assumption that Afghan rulers are without the same sort of facilities that allied forces use,” Person A informed the committee.

Technology was deserted in Afghanistan; they possess it. Should they obtain your phone number, they are able to track your exact position. This is exactly how the unit achieved.”

Under inquiry about regarding if authorities possessed advanced decryption, Person A confirmed: “They have complete capability.”

Consequences of the Data Breach

Preliminary research presented to the inquiry suggested that approximately fifty kin and associates of people concerned by the breach had been murdered.

A superinjunction about the breach was put in force in last year and blocked any information regarding the matter from public disclosure until mid-2025.

Protective Actions

Given injunction limitations, Person A and the volunteer organization she was working with informed individuals at risk they were working with that they had “suspicions that certain devices had been intercepted”.

“We recommended that they moved where feasible and altered their phone numbers. These represented the primary information that, if authorities obtained these details, would cause their location being found,” Person A explained.

Disputed Conclusions

Person A contested that government assessment carried out by an ex-government employee had been wrong to conclude that the possession of the dataset by militant forces was “not significantly alter an individual's existing exposure”.

“The important fact is that affected people are in hiding from militant forces; they remain concealed. All concerns relate to past work history.”

The source explained horrific abuse endured by affected individuals, involving electrocution, interrogation techniques, and physical abuse.

“We have had toddlers who have had bones crushed to try to get the family to reveal locations,” Person A stated.