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A whistleblower has revealed an official investigation that British authorities abandoned confidential devices allowing the Taliban to identify local individuals who worked with western forces.

Data Breach Puts Numerous in Danger

The source, called Person A, stated that individuals impacted by the security lapse were advised to move homes and alter their mobile numbers to protect themselves from militant forces.

MPs are looking into the UK government's response of a massive leak of personal details affecting approximately 19k Afghans who had requested to move to the United Kingdom to escape the Taliban.

The Information Breach Happened

A spreadsheet including confidential details, such as identities, phone numbers and sometimes relative details, was inadvertently disclosed by an official stationed at UK special forces headquarters in early 2022.

The incident was discovered in late 2023, when identities of nine people who had requested to settle in the UK were posted on Facebook.

Taliban Capabilities

It appears there is a false assumption that militant forces are without similar capabilities that allied forces use,” she told lawmakers.

“We left it all behind in Afghanistan; they have it. If they have mobile details, they can trace your exact position. That is what the unit accomplished.”

Under inquiry about if militant forces had access to advanced decryption, the whistleblower declared: “They possess all resources.”

Consequences of the Data Breach

Initial findings submitted to the inquiry suggested that at least 49 family members and colleagues of people concerned by the leak had been executed.

A superinjunction about the incident was put in force in late 2023 and restricted relevant facts regarding the matter from public disclosure until mid-2025.

Safety Measures

Given injunction limitations, the source and the aid group she collaborated with told affected households they were supporting that they had “concerns that mobile communications had been compromised”.

“We recommended that they change residence where feasible and altered their mobile numbers. Those were the crucial data that, if the Taliban had access to these details, would cause them being traced,” Person A explained.

Challenged Assessments

The whistleblower disputed that internal investigation carried out by a retired civil servant had been mistaken to conclude that the obtaining of the information by the Taliban was “minimally impact present danger”.

“The important fact is that affected people are not confronting the Taliban; they remain concealed. Everything boils down to past work history.”

Person A described terrible violence experienced by concerned people, including electric shock torture, waterboarding, and physical abuse.

“We have had young kids who have had bones crushed to pressure households to say where someone is,” Person A stated.