🔗 Share this article Taliban Used Left-Behind British Equipment to Find Local Nationals Who Worked Alongside Western Troops, Investigation Learns A confidential source has revealed the Afghan leak inquiry that the UK failed to secure classified equipment allowing the militant group to identify local individuals who worked with international military. Data Breach Puts Thousands in Danger The source, identified as Person A, testified that Afghans affected by the security lapse were instructed to relocate and alter their phone numbers to avoid detection from the Taliban. Members of Parliament are investigating official management of a catastrophic leak of confidential data concerning approximately 19k Afghans who had requested to come to the United Kingdom to flee the Taliban. The Information Breach Was Discovered An electronic document including their personal data, including names, addresses and occasionally relative details, was mistakenly released by a staff member working at UK special forces headquarters in last year. The leak became known only in August 2023, when the names of several individuals who had requested to settle in Britain were posted on Facebook. Regime's Resources Many believe there's a false assumption that the Taliban are without the same sort of facilities that western nations possess,” she told the committee. All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; it's in their hands. Should they obtain your phone number, they can trace your exact position. This is exactly how intelligence groups accomplished.” During testimony about if militant forces possessed sophisticated technology, the source confirmed: “They've got everything.” Consequences of the Security Lapse Initial findings submitted to the committee indicated that no fewer than forty-nine relatives and co-workers of people concerned by the breach had been killed. A gag order about the incident was put in force in last year and restricted all details regarding the matter from public disclosure until July 2025. Protective Actions Due to legal constraints, the whistleblower and the non-governmental organization she was working with told Afghan families they were working with that they had “apprehensions that certain devices had been breached”. “We recommended that they moved if they could and altered their mobile numbers. These represented the crucial data that, should militant forces had access to these details, would lead to them being traced,” the source testified. Disputed Conclusions The whistleblower argued that an official review conducted by an ex-government employee had been wrong to determine that the obtaining of the records by militant forces was “unlikely to substantially change present danger”. “The crucial point is that affected people are not confronting the authorities; they live secretly. All concerns relate to their previous employment.” She detailed terrible treatment suffered by concerned people, including electrocution, waterboarding, and severe beatings. “Instances include toddlers who have had their arms broken to force relatives to reveal locations,” the whistleblower revealed.