🔗 Share this article

A whistleblower has disclosed the Afghan leak inquiry that British authorities abandoned classified equipment permitting the Taliban to identify Afghans that had served with international military.

Information Leak Puts Thousands at Risk

Person A, identified as Person A, testified that people concerned by the data leak were advised to move homes and switch their mobile numbers to avoid detection from the ruling authorities.

Lawmakers are investigating the UK government's handling of a massive disclosure of confidential data concerning approximately 19k Afghans who had asked to relocate to Britain to escape militant rule.

How the Leak Was Discovered

A spreadsheet including private information, such as identities, phone numbers and occasionally relative details, was mistakenly released by an official working at British military command in February 2022.

The incident came to light in late 2023, when identities of multiple applicants who had requested to move to Britain were posted on social media.

Militant Technology

“There seems to be this misconception that militant forces do not have comparable resources that allied forces use,” she told lawmakers.

All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; they have it. Once they acquire a contact number, they can trace your precise location. That is what specialized teams accomplished.”

During testimony about if militant forces had access to sophisticated technology, the source declared: “They've got everything.”

Impact of the Information Leak

Early investigations submitted to the committee suggested that no fewer than forty-nine kin and associates of Afghans affected by the leak had been murdered.

A legal restriction concerning the incident was implemented in last year and blocked relevant facts about it from media reporting until July 2025.

Safety Measures

Because she was restricted, Person A and the non-governmental organization she collaborated with advised affected households they were working with that they had “concerns that certain devices had been compromised”.

“Our suggestion was that they moved where feasible and switched their mobile numbers. That constituted the crucial data that, should militant forces acquired these details, would cause them being traced,” she said.

Disputed Conclusions

Person A argued that an official review conducted by a former official had been mistaken to state that the obtaining of the records by the regime was “not significantly alter present danger”.

“The thing to remember is that affected people are not standing up to militant forces; they remain concealed. The primary issue involves former occupations.”

The source explained horrific treatment suffered by affected individuals, involving electrocution, waterboarding, and physical abuse.

“There are cases of toddlers who have had limbs fractured to try to get households to say where someone is,” the whistleblower revealed.