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An informant has disclosed a parliamentary probe that British authorities left behind confidential devices enabling the Taliban to identify local individuals who worked with allied troops.

Data Breach Puts Numerous in Danger

The whistleblower, called Person A, testified that people concerned by the security lapse were advised to change residences and change their contact details to ensure their safety from the Taliban.

Members of Parliament are currently examining the UK government's response of a catastrophic disclosure of confidential data involving approximately 19k Afghans who had requested to relocate to the United Kingdom to flee the Taliban.

The Information Breach Happened

A spreadsheet with private information, including identities, contact details and occasionally family information, was accidentally leaked by an official employed at special operations center in early 2022.

The leak came to light in late 2023, when details of multiple applicants who had sought to settle in Britain were posted on Facebook.

Taliban Capabilities

It appears there is this misconception that militant forces lack the same sort of facilities that allied forces use,” Person A informed the committee.

All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; it's in their hands. Should they obtain a contact number, they can trace your precise location. That is what the unit did.”

When questioned about whether the Taliban had access to sophisticated technology, the source stated: “They've got everything.”

Aftermath of the Security Lapse

Early investigations presented to the investigation suggested that no fewer than forty-nine family members and colleagues of individuals impacted by the breach had been murdered.

A gag order regarding the leak was put in force in late 2023 and blocked any information about it from media reporting until July 2025.

Safety Measures

Given injunction limitations, the source and the non-governmental organization associated with informed Afghan families they were assisting that they had “apprehensions that mobile communications had been compromised”.

“We advised that they change residence where feasible and switched their phone numbers. These represented the primary information that, if authorities had access to this information, would result in identification and capture,” the source testified.

Disputed Conclusions

The source contested that government assessment carried out by a retired civil servant had been mistaken to determine that the possession of the information by the Taliban was “unlikely to substantially change current risk levels”.

“The important fact is that affected people are not confronting militant forces; they remain concealed. All concerns relate to former occupations.”

The source explained terrible treatment endured by at-risk Afghans, including electric shock torture, waterboarding, and physical abuse.

“We have had young kids who have had bones crushed to try to get the family to reveal locations,” the whistleblower revealed.