🔗 Share this article

A confidential source has revealed the Afghan leak inquiry that British authorities abandoned classified devices enabling the militant group to track down Afghans who worked with international military.

Information Leak Endangers Numerous in Danger

The whistleblower, known as Person A, explained that individuals impacted by the data leak were told to relocate and alter their phone numbers to ensure their safety from militant forces.

MPs are looking into the UK government's response of a serious disclosure of private information concerning approximately 19k individuals who had asked to come to Britain to avoid the Taliban.

The Information Breach Occurred

A spreadsheet containing private information, including names, phone numbers and occasionally family information, was mistakenly released by a worker stationed at British military command in early 2022.

The breach was discovered in late 2023, when the names of multiple applicants who had applied to relocate to the UK surfaced on Facebook.

Regime's Resources

Many believe there's this misconception that Afghan rulers are without similar capabilities that western nations possess,” Person A informed the committee.

Technology was deserted in Afghanistan; they possess it. Once they acquire your phone number, they are able to track your exact position. This is exactly how intelligence groups did.”

When questioned about whether the Taliban possessed sophisticated technology, the whistleblower declared: “They have complete capability.”

Consequences of the Security Lapse

Initial findings provided to the committee indicated that no fewer than forty-nine kin and colleagues of individuals impacted by the incident had been executed.

A superinjunction about the incident was put in force in August 2023 and restricted all details concerning it from public disclosure until mid-2025.

Protective Actions

Given injunction limitations, the source and the aid group she was working with told individuals at risk they were supporting that they had “apprehensions that certain devices had been breached”.

“We advised that they change residence where feasible and changed their phone numbers. These represented the crucial data that, should militant forces acquired such data, would result in their location being found,” Person A explained.

Contested Findings

The source argued that government assessment performed by a former official had been incorrect to determine that the obtaining of the records by the Taliban was “unlikely to substantially change current risk levels”.

“The important fact is that these individuals are not confronting the Taliban; they are in hiding. Everything boils down to former occupations.”

The source explained horrific treatment suffered by at-risk Afghans, comprising electric shock torture, simulated drowning, and severe beatings.

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