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A whistleblower has disclosed a parliamentary probe that British authorities failed to secure classified equipment allowing Afghanistan's rulers to identify local individuals that had served with western forces.

Information Leak Puts Thousands at Risk

The source, known as Person A, stated that Afghans affected by the information breach were told to move homes and alter their phone numbers to protect themselves from militant forces.

MPs are looking into the Conservative government's response of a catastrophic leak of confidential data affecting nearly 19,000 Afghans who had asked to move to the UK to avoid militant rule.

How the Leak Occurred

A spreadsheet with private information, comprising names, addresses and in some cases family information, was mistakenly released by a worker working at UK special forces headquarters in February 2022.

The leak was discovered months later, when details of several individuals who had sought to move to the UK surfaced on social media.

Taliban Capabilities

“There seems to be this misconception that the Taliban lack the same sort of facilities that allied forces use,” the whistleblower testified to lawmakers.

“We left it all behind in Afghanistan; they possess it. Once they acquire your phone number, they can locate you down to within metres. That is what intelligence groups accomplished.”

During testimony about regarding if authorities had access to necessary encryption, Person A declared: “They've got everything.”

Aftermath of the Data Breach

Initial findings presented to the investigation indicated that at least 49 family members and associates of Afghans affected by the leak had been executed.

A gag order regarding the breach was put in force in August 2023 and restricted any information about it from media reporting until recently.

Safety Measures

Given injunction limitations, the source and the aid group associated with informed affected households they were assisting that they had “concerns that mobile communications had been intercepted”.

“Our suggestion was that they relocate if they could and switched their mobile numbers. Those were the primary information that, should militant forces acquired this information, would result in identification and capture,” she said.

Contested Findings

Person A argued that government assessment performed by a former official had been wrong to conclude that the obtaining of the dataset by the Taliban was “not significantly alter an individual's existing exposure”.

“The thing to remember is that these Afghans are in hiding from the Taliban; they are in hiding. The primary issue involves their previous employment.”

Person A described disturbing treatment experienced by at-risk Afghans, including electric shock torture, simulated drowning, and physical abuse.

“Instances include four-year-old children who have had limbs fractured to pressure households to reveal locations,” Person A stated.