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A whistleblower has told the Afghan leak inquiry that the UK left behind classified technology allowing Afghanistan's rulers to locate Afghans who collaborated with western forces.

Information Leak Puts Numerous in Danger

The whistleblower, known as Person A, explained that Afghans affected by the security lapse were advised to relocate and switch their mobile numbers to protect themselves from the Taliban.

MPs are currently examining official management of a massive disclosure of personal details affecting approximately 19k individuals who had asked to relocate to Britain to avoid the regime.

The Information Breach Occurred

A data file including confidential details, comprising names, phone numbers and occasionally family information, was accidentally leaked by a worker working at British military command in February 2022.

The incident was discovered months later, when the names of multiple applicants who had applied to move to the UK surfaced on online platforms.

Militant Technology

It appears there is this misconception that militant forces lack similar capabilities that we have,” Person A informed the committee.

All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; it's in their hands. Should they obtain mobile details, they can locate your precise location. That's precisely what intelligence groups did.”

During testimony about if militant forces had access to necessary encryption, the whistleblower declared: “They have complete capability.”

Aftermath of the Data Breach

Initial findings submitted to the inquiry indicated that no fewer than forty-nine kin and co-workers of people concerned by the incident had been murdered.

A gag order regarding the breach was put in force in August 2023 and restricted any information regarding the matter from media reporting until July 2025.

Security Recommendations

Given injunction limitations, the source and the aid group she collaborated with told individuals at risk they were working with that they had “suspicions that mobile communications had been intercepted”.

“We recommended that they moved when possible and altered their contact details. Those were the two main details that, if the Taliban had access to this information, would cause their location being found,” the source testified.

Challenged Assessments

The whistleblower disputed that internal investigation conducted by a retired civil servant had been wrong to state that the possession of the dataset by militant forces was “minimally impact present danger”.

“The thing to remember is that affected people are not standing up to militant forces; they are in hiding. Everything boils down to past work history.”

Person A described horrific treatment suffered by affected individuals, including electrocution, interrogation techniques, and severe beatings.

“Instances include four-year-old children who have had bones crushed to pressure relatives to say where someone is,” Person A stated.