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A whistleblower has told an official investigation that British authorities failed to secure classified equipment enabling the Taliban to track down Afghans who collaborated with international military.

Data Breach Puts Thousands at Risk

The whistleblower, identified as Person A, explained that Afghans affected by the data leak were instructed to move homes and change their mobile numbers to ensure their safety from the Taliban.

Members of Parliament are investigating the Conservative government's management of a massive breach of personal details affecting approximately 19k individuals who had requested to move to the United Kingdom to escape the regime.

The Information Breach Occurred

An electronic document containing their personal data, comprising identities, phone numbers and sometimes relative details, was mistakenly released by a staff member stationed at special operations center in early 2022.

The leak was discovered only in August 2023, when identities of nine people who had applied to relocate to the UK appeared on Facebook.

Militant Technology

It appears there is a false assumption that militant forces do not have similar capabilities that we have,” she told MPs.

“We left it all behind in Afghanistan; it's in their hands. Once they acquire your phone number, they can locate your exact position. That's precisely what intelligence groups achieved.”

When questioned about if militant forces owned necessary encryption, Person A declared: “They have complete capability.”

Impact of the Data Breach

Preliminary research submitted to the committee estimated that approximately fifty relatives and associates of people concerned by the incident had been murdered.

A superinjunction about the breach was enacted in last year and prevented all details concerning it from public disclosure until mid-2025.

Protective Actions

Because she was restricted, the source and the volunteer organization she was working with told affected households they were supporting that they had “apprehensions that mobile communications had been intercepted”.

“Our suggestion was that they relocate where feasible and switched their contact details. These represented the primary information that, if authorities acquired such data, would cause their location being found,” Person A explained.

Contested Findings

The whistleblower disputed that government assessment performed by an ex-government employee had been wrong to state that the acquisition of the records by the Taliban was “minimally impact an individual's existing exposure”.

“The important fact is that affected people are not confronting the authorities; they remain concealed. The primary issue involves former occupations.”

Person A described horrific treatment suffered by concerned people, including electrocution, waterboarding, and physical abuse.

“We have had four-year-old children who have had limbs fractured to force households to disclose hiding places,” she testified.