Taliban Utilized Discarded British Technology to Track Down Afghans That Served Alongside Allied Forces, Investigation Learns
An informant has disclosed an official investigation that the UK left behind classified equipment allowing the Taliban to locate local individuals who worked with international military.
Information Leak Puts Thousands in Danger
Person A, identified as Person A, testified that individuals impacted by the information breach were advised to move homes and switch their phone numbers to protect themselves from the ruling authorities.
Lawmakers are investigating official response of a catastrophic breach of confidential data involving nearly 19,000 individuals who had requested to relocate to Britain to escape militant rule.
The Information Breach Was Discovered
A spreadsheet with private information, comprising identities, addresses and sometimes relative details, was accidentally leaked by a staff member working at special operations center in early 2022.
The leak came to light months later, when identities of multiple applicants who had requested to move to Britain appeared on Facebook.
Militant Technology
Many believe there's a misunderstanding that Afghan rulers lack comparable resources that we have,” the whistleblower testified to the committee.
“We left it all behind in Afghanistan; they have it. Should they obtain your phone number, they are able to track your exact position. This is exactly how the unit accomplished.”
During testimony about if militant forces had access to advanced decryption, the whistleblower confirmed: “They've got everything.”
Consequences of the Information Leak
Initial findings provided to the investigation suggested that no fewer than forty-nine family members and colleagues of individuals impacted by the leak had been executed.
A gag order regarding the leak was implemented in August 2023 and prevented all details about it from media reporting until mid-2025.
Safety Measures
Given injunction limitations, the source and the aid group associated with told Afghan families they were supporting that they had “concerns that mobile communications had been compromised”.
“Our suggestion was that they relocate when possible and switched their mobile numbers. That constituted the two main details that, if the Taliban had access to this information, would lead to their location being found,” Person A explained.
Contested Findings
Person A argued that internal investigation conducted by an ex-government employee had been wrong to state that the possession of the dataset by militant forces was “unlikely to substantially change current risk levels”.
“The crucial point is that affected people are in hiding from the authorities; they live secretly. Everything boils down to former occupations.”
The source explained horrific violence suffered by at-risk Afghans, involving electric shock torture, interrogation techniques, and violent assaults.
“Instances include toddlers who have had bones crushed to force households to say where someone is,” she testified.
