🔗 Share this article

A whistleblower has told a parliamentary probe that the UK abandoned classified technology permitting Afghanistan's rulers to locate local individuals who worked with western forces.

Data Breach Endangers Thousands at Risk

The source, called Person A, stated that individuals impacted by the data leak were instructed to move homes and alter their phone numbers to avoid detection from militant forces.

Members of Parliament are investigating the UK government's response of a serious disclosure of personal details concerning nearly 19,000 individuals who had applied to move to Britain to flee militant rule.

The Information Breach Was Discovered

A data file including private information, including identities, contact details and sometimes household data, was accidentally leaked by a worker working at British military command in last year.

The incident became known months later, when the names of nine people who had sought to settle in Britain surfaced on social media.

Taliban Capabilities

It appears there is this misconception that militant forces lack the same sort of facilities that allied forces use,” Person A informed MPs.

Technology was deserted in Afghanistan; it's in their hands. Should they obtain your phone number, they can trace you down to within metres. That's precisely what the unit did.”

When questioned about if militant forces owned necessary encryption, the source confirmed: “They have complete capability.”

Consequences of the Data Breach

Initial findings presented to the investigation estimated that approximately fifty family members and colleagues of people concerned by the breach had been killed.

A gag order regarding the breach was enacted in August 2023 and prevented any information regarding the matter from being made public until recently.

Safety Measures

Due to legal constraints, the whistleblower and the aid group associated with advised affected households they were supporting that they had “apprehensions that certain devices had been intercepted”.

“We recommended that they change residence if they could and changed their mobile numbers. These represented the crucial data that, if authorities obtained such data, would lead to identification and capture,” the source testified.

Challenged Assessments

The whistleblower contested that government assessment performed by an ex-government employee had been incorrect to determine that the possession of the records by the Taliban was “not significantly alter present danger”.

“The important fact is that these individuals are in hiding from the authorities; they remain concealed. The primary issue involves former occupations.”

The source explained terrible abuse experienced by at-risk Afghans, including electrocution, interrogation techniques, and physical abuse.

“There are cases of young kids who have had their arms broken to try to get households to reveal locations,” the whistleblower revealed.