Taliban Utilized Discarded UK Equipment to Find Afghans That Served With Allied Forces, Investigation Hears

A whistleblower has disclosed a parliamentary probe that British authorities left behind confidential technology allowing the militant group to track down local individuals that had served with western forces.

Data Breach Puts Thousands at Risk

Person A, known as Person A, stated that individuals impacted by the information breach were instructed to relocate and switch their contact details to protect themselves from militant forces.

MPs are currently examining the UK government's management of a serious breach of personal details affecting almost nineteen thousand Afghans who had requested to relocate to the United Kingdom to escape militant rule.

Data Disclosure Happened

A spreadsheet including their personal data, such as identities, phone numbers and in some cases family information, was accidentally leaked by a staff member stationed at special operations center in February 2022.

The breach became known in late 2023, when identities of multiple applicants who had sought to relocate to the UK appeared on social media.

Militant Technology

“There seems to be a false assumption that the Taliban lack the same sort of facilities that we have,” Person A informed the committee.

“We left it all behind in Afghanistan; it's in their hands. Once they acquire mobile details, they are able to track your precise location. That's precisely what intelligence groups achieved.”

When questioned about if militant forces owned advanced decryption, Person A confirmed: “They have complete capability.”

Aftermath of the Security Lapse

Initial findings presented to the inquiry suggested that at least 49 kin and co-workers of people concerned by the leak had been murdered.

A legal restriction concerning the breach was implemented in August 2023 and restricted relevant facts concerning it from public disclosure until mid-2025.

Protective Actions

Because she was restricted, Person A and the non-governmental organization she was working with advised individuals at risk they were supporting that they had “apprehensions that certain devices had been intercepted”.

“Our suggestion was that they change residence if they could and changed their mobile numbers. That constituted the primary information that, if the Taliban had access to such data, would result in them being traced,” Person A explained.

Disputed Conclusions

Person A argued that government assessment performed by a retired civil servant had been incorrect to state that the acquisition of the dataset by militant forces was “unlikely to substantially change present danger”.

“The important fact is that these individuals are not confronting militant forces; they remain concealed. Everything boils down to former occupations.”

Person A described terrible treatment endured by affected individuals, comprising electric shock torture, waterboarding, and severe beatings.

“Instances include young kids who have had limbs fractured to pressure households to say where someone is,” she testified.