Taliban Utilized Left-Behind UK Gear to Locate Afghans That Served Alongside Allied Forces, Investigation Learns

An informant has revealed the Afghan leak inquiry that British authorities abandoned classified technology allowing the Taliban to track down local individuals that had served with allied troops.

Data Breach Puts Numerous in Danger

The whistleblower, called Person A, testified that people concerned by the security lapse were instructed to change residences and change their contact details to protect themselves from the Taliban.

MPs are currently examining the UK government's response of a catastrophic disclosure of confidential data affecting approximately 19k individuals who had requested to move to the United Kingdom to avoid the Taliban.

Data Disclosure Was Discovered

A data file with confidential details, including names, contact details and occasionally household data, was inadvertently disclosed by an official employed at British military command in early 2022.

The leak became known months later, when details of nine people who had requested to settle in the UK surfaced on online platforms.

Taliban Capabilities

“There seems to be a false assumption that the Taliban are without comparable resources that we have,” she told MPs.

“We left it all behind in Afghanistan; they possess it. Once they acquire mobile details, they are able to track you down to within metres. That is what specialized teams did.”

During testimony about whether the Taliban had access to necessary encryption, the source stated: “They possess all resources.”

Consequences of the Data Breach

Initial findings presented to the committee indicated that no fewer than forty-nine relatives and colleagues of Afghans affected by the leak had been killed.

A gag order regarding the leak was put in force in last year and prevented relevant facts about it from public disclosure until July 2025.

Protective Actions

Given injunction limitations, the whistleblower and the non-governmental organization associated with informed individuals at risk they were assisting that they had “suspicions that somebody's phone had been compromised”.

“Our suggestion was that they moved where feasible and altered their phone numbers. Those were the crucial data that, if authorities obtained such data, would cause their location being found,” Person A explained.

Disputed Conclusions

Person A disputed that an official review carried out by an ex-government employee had been mistaken to determine that the obtaining of the dataset by the Taliban was “minimally impact an individual's existing exposure”.

“The important fact is that these individuals are not confronting militant forces; they remain concealed. Everything boils down to their previous employment.”

Person A described disturbing abuse experienced by affected individuals, including electric shock torture, interrogation techniques, and severe beatings.

“We have had toddlers who have had their arms broken to pressure the family to disclose hiding places,” Person A stated.