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A whistleblower has told an official investigation that British authorities left behind classified devices enabling the militant group to locate Afghans who collaborated with western forces.

Data Breach Endangers Numerous at Risk

The whistleblower, known as Person A, explained that Afghans affected by the information breach were advised to move homes and change their mobile numbers to ensure their safety from militant forces.

Lawmakers are investigating the Conservative government's handling of a massive leak of confidential data involving nearly 19,000 Afghans who had asked to move to Britain to escape the regime.

The Information Breach Was Discovered

A spreadsheet with private information, including names, phone numbers and sometimes relative details, was mistakenly released by a worker working at British military command in last year.

The breach was discovered months later, when the names of nine people who had requested to move to Britain appeared on online platforms.

Taliban Capabilities

It appears there is a false assumption that Afghan rulers lack the same sort of facilities that we have,” Person A informed the committee.

Technology was deserted in Afghanistan; they have it. Once they acquire mobile details, they are able to track your exact position. This is exactly how intelligence groups achieved.”

Under inquiry about if militant forces had access to advanced decryption, the whistleblower declared: “They possess all resources.”

Aftermath of the Information Leak

Preliminary research submitted to the committee suggested that no fewer than forty-nine family members and co-workers of individuals impacted by the incident had been murdered.

A superinjunction regarding the leak was implemented in August 2023 and blocked all details about it from media reporting until mid-2025.

Protective Actions

Because she was restricted, Person A and the aid group she collaborated with informed individuals at risk they were supporting that they had “concerns that somebody's phone had been intercepted”.

“We recommended that they change residence if they could and altered their mobile numbers. These represented the primary information that, if the Taliban had access to such data, would lead to them being traced,” she said.

Contested Findings

The whistleblower argued that government assessment conducted by an ex-government employee had been wrong to conclude that the acquisition of the dataset by the Taliban was “unlikely to substantially change present danger”.

“The thing to remember is that affected people are not confronting militant forces; they remain concealed. All concerns relate to former occupations.”

Person A described horrific abuse endured by at-risk Afghans, comprising electrocution, simulated drowning, and violent assaults.

“There are cases of four-year-old children who have had bones crushed to pressure relatives to reveal locations,” the whistleblower revealed.