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A confidential source has told the Afghan leak inquiry that the UK abandoned sensitive equipment permitting Afghanistan's rulers to locate Afghans that had served with international military.

Information Leak Puts Numerous in Danger

Person A, known as Person A, stated that individuals impacted by the information breach were told to change residences and change their contact details to protect themselves from the ruling authorities.

Members of Parliament are investigating the UK government's management of a massive disclosure of personal details affecting nearly 19,000 individuals who had asked to relocate to Britain to flee militant rule.

Data Disclosure Happened

An electronic document containing their personal data, comprising names, phone numbers and sometimes relative details, was inadvertently disclosed by a staff member employed at UK special forces headquarters in early 2022.

The incident became known only in August 2023, when details of nine people who had sought to settle in the UK appeared on social media.

Regime's Resources

“There seems to be a misunderstanding that militant forces are without the same sort of facilities that western nations possess,” Person A informed lawmakers.

Technology was deserted in Afghanistan; they have it. Once they acquire a contact number, they are able to track you down to within metres. That is what the unit accomplished.”

During testimony about regarding if authorities had access to advanced decryption, the whistleblower stated: “They possess all resources.”

Aftermath of the Data Breach

Initial findings provided to the committee suggested that no fewer than forty-nine kin and co-workers of individuals impacted by the leak had been executed.

A superinjunction concerning the breach was enacted in last year and blocked relevant facts about it from media reporting until mid-2025.

Security Recommendations

Given injunction limitations, Person A and the volunteer organization associated with told Afghan families they were working with that they had “concerns that certain devices had been intercepted”.

“Our suggestion was that they relocate where feasible and altered their contact details. That constituted the crucial data that, should militant forces had access to this information, would lead to their location being found,” the source testified.

Challenged Assessments

The source contested that an official review carried out by an ex-government employee had been mistaken to state that the obtaining of the dataset by militant forces was “not significantly alter an individual's existing exposure”.

“The thing to remember is that these Afghans are not confronting the Taliban; they are in hiding. Everything boils down to past work history.”

Person A described horrific treatment experienced by at-risk Afghans, including electrocution, waterboarding, and violent assaults.

“There are cases of four-year-old children who have had their arms broken to force households to disclose hiding places,” she testified.