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A whistleblower has told a parliamentary probe that British authorities failed to secure confidential equipment enabling the Taliban to locate Afghans who collaborated with allied troops.

Information Leak Endangers Numerous in Danger

The whistleblower, called Person A, testified that individuals impacted by the security lapse were advised to change residences and alter their contact details to avoid detection from the ruling authorities.

Lawmakers are investigating the UK government's response of a massive leak of private information involving almost nineteen thousand individuals who had asked to relocate to the UK to flee militant rule.

Data Disclosure Happened

An electronic document including confidential details, such as identities, phone numbers and occasionally relative details, was mistakenly released by an official working at British military command in early 2022.

The breach came to light only in August 2023, when the names of several individuals who had sought to relocate to Britain appeared on Facebook.

Regime's Resources

Many believe there's a false assumption that militant forces are without similar capabilities that western nations possess,” she told the committee.

Technology was deserted in Afghanistan; they possess it. If they have mobile details, they can locate you down to within metres. This is exactly how intelligence groups achieved.”

Under inquiry about whether the Taliban had access to necessary encryption, the source stated: “They have complete capability.”

Impact of the Data Breach

Preliminary research presented to the inquiry indicated that no fewer than forty-nine relatives and co-workers of Afghans affected by the leak had been killed.

A gag order about the breach was implemented in last year and blocked any information concerning it from media reporting until July 2025.

Protective Actions

Because she was restricted, Person A and the aid group she collaborated with advised Afghan families they were working with that they had “concerns that certain devices had been compromised”.

“We recommended that they moved if they could and changed their contact details. Those were the primary information that, should militant forces acquired this information, would lead to identification and capture,” the source testified.

Disputed Conclusions

The source disputed that internal investigation conducted by an ex-government employee had been wrong to determine that the obtaining of the records by the regime was “unlikely to substantially change current risk levels”.

“The thing to remember is that these individuals are in hiding from the authorities; they are in hiding. Everything boils down to former occupations.”

The source explained terrible treatment suffered by affected individuals, comprising electric shock torture, simulated drowning, and physical abuse.

“We have had toddlers who have had bones crushed to pressure households to say where someone is,” the whistleblower revealed.