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A confidential source has disclosed the Afghan leak inquiry that British authorities left behind confidential devices allowing the militant group to locate local individuals that had served with allied troops.

Information Leak Endangers Thousands in Danger

Person A, known as Person A, stated that people concerned by the information breach were advised to change residences and change their mobile numbers to protect themselves from the Taliban.

MPs are currently examining the Conservative government's handling of a serious breach of personal details affecting nearly 19,000 Afghans who had asked to come to the UK to escape the regime.

The Information Breach Was Discovered

A spreadsheet with confidential details, comprising identities, addresses and in some cases family information, was accidentally leaked by an official stationed at British military command in early 2022.

The leak came to light months later, when the names of multiple applicants who had sought to move to the UK were posted on Facebook.

Taliban Capabilities

“There seems to be a false assumption that militant forces lack the same sort of facilities that allied forces use,” she told MPs.

All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; they possess it. Once they acquire a contact number, they can locate you down to within metres. That is what specialized teams accomplished.”

When questioned about if militant forces had access to necessary encryption, the whistleblower confirmed: “They've got everything.”

Consequences of the Security Lapse

Initial findings presented to the investigation estimated that approximately fifty relatives and colleagues of Afghans affected by the leak had been killed.

A superinjunction regarding the leak was put in force in last year and blocked all details about it from public disclosure until mid-2025.

Security Recommendations

Given injunction limitations, Person A and the aid group she was working with told Afghan families they were working with that they had “concerns that certain devices had been breached”.

“We advised that they moved when possible and altered their mobile numbers. That constituted the crucial data that, should militant forces had access to such data, would cause their location being found,” she said.

Disputed Conclusions

The whistleblower disputed that government assessment conducted by a retired civil servant had been wrong to determine that the acquisition of the records by the Taliban was “minimally impact present danger”.

“The important fact is that these individuals are not standing up to militant forces; they live secretly. The primary issue involves past work history.”

Person A described horrific violence experienced by affected individuals, comprising electric shock torture, interrogation techniques, and physical abuse.

“We have had four-year-old children who have had their arms broken to force the family to disclose hiding places,” the whistleblower revealed.