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An informant has told the Afghan leak inquiry that the UK left behind sensitive technology permitting Afghanistan's rulers to track down Afghans who collaborated with allied troops.

Data Breach Puts Numerous in Danger

Person A, known as Person A, testified that Afghans affected by the information breach were advised to relocate and alter their mobile numbers to protect themselves from the ruling authorities.

Lawmakers are currently examining official response of a catastrophic disclosure of personal details concerning nearly 19,000 individuals who had requested to relocate to the UK to escape the Taliban.

The Information Breach Occurred

A spreadsheet containing confidential details, including names, addresses and sometimes household data, was inadvertently disclosed by an official stationed at British military command in early 2022.

The leak became known months later, when the names of nine people who had requested to move to the UK surfaced on social media.

Militant Technology

Many believe there's a false assumption that militant forces do not have the same sort of facilities that we have,” the whistleblower testified to the committee.

All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; it's in their hands. Should they obtain mobile details, they are able to track your exact position. This is exactly how specialized teams accomplished.”

When questioned about if militant forces owned sophisticated technology, Person A stated: “They have complete capability.”

Aftermath of the Data Breach

Early investigations provided to the committee estimated that at least 49 family members and colleagues of Afghans affected by the leak had been executed.

A legal restriction regarding the breach was enacted in August 2023 and restricted any information about it from public disclosure until mid-2025.

Protective Actions

Due to legal constraints, the source and the non-governmental organization she was working with told affected households they were supporting that they had “apprehensions that certain devices had been breached”.

“We recommended that they change residence where feasible and altered their contact details. That constituted the crucial data that, if the Taliban acquired such data, would result in them being traced,” she said.

Disputed Conclusions

The whistleblower disputed that government assessment carried out by an ex-government employee had been mistaken to state that the obtaining of the information by the regime was “unlikely to substantially change an individual's existing exposure”.

“The thing to remember is that these individuals are in hiding from militant forces; they are in hiding. The primary issue involves former occupations.”

Person A described terrible treatment experienced by concerned people, comprising electric shock torture, interrogation techniques, and violent assaults.

“Instances include four-year-old children who have had limbs fractured to try to get households to say where someone is,” she testified.