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A confidential source has told a parliamentary probe that British authorities abandoned classified technology permitting Afghanistan's rulers to track down local individuals who collaborated with international military.

Information Leak Endangers Thousands at Risk

The source, identified as Person A, testified that Afghans affected by the data leak were advised to change residences and change their phone numbers to avoid detection from militant forces.

Members of Parliament are currently examining official management of a massive leak of private information affecting approximately 19k Afghans who had asked to come to Britain to flee militant rule.

The Information Breach Happened

A spreadsheet including private information, comprising names, phone numbers and in some cases household data, was mistakenly released by an official employed at special operations center in early 2022.

The incident became known months later, when details of several individuals who had sought to settle in Britain appeared on Facebook.

Taliban Capabilities

“There seems to be this misconception that the Taliban do not have similar capabilities that we have,” she told lawmakers.

“We left it all behind in Afghanistan; they possess it. If they have a contact number, they are able to track your exact position. That is what the unit achieved.”

When questioned about whether the Taliban possessed sophisticated technology, the whistleblower declared: “They have complete capability.”

Consequences of the Information Leak

Initial findings submitted to the committee suggested that approximately fifty relatives and associates of people concerned by the breach had been executed.

A gag order about the incident was enacted in August 2023 and restricted relevant facts regarding the matter from media reporting until mid-2025.

Security Recommendations

Because she was restricted, Person A and the volunteer organization she collaborated with informed affected households they were assisting that they had “suspicions that certain devices had been compromised”.

“We recommended that they relocate where feasible and switched their contact details. That constituted the primary information that, if authorities acquired this information, would cause identification and capture,” Person A explained.

Disputed Conclusions

The whistleblower disputed that internal investigation conducted by a retired civil servant had been wrong to determine that the obtaining of the dataset by the regime was “not significantly alter present danger”.

“The crucial point is that affected people are not confronting militant forces; they are in hiding. All concerns relate to their previous employment.”

The source explained disturbing violence suffered by affected individuals, involving electric shock torture, simulated drowning, and violent assaults.

“We have had four-year-old children who have had limbs fractured to force relatives to say where someone is,” the whistleblower revealed.