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A whistleblower has told the Afghan leak inquiry that British authorities failed to secure classified equipment allowing the Taliban to track down Afghans who collaborated with western forces.

Information Leak Puts Numerous at Risk

The source, called Person A, stated that people concerned by the information breach were advised to relocate and change their contact details to ensure their safety from the ruling authorities.

Members of Parliament are investigating the Conservative government's management of a catastrophic leak of personal details concerning approximately 19k individuals who had requested to come to the UK to flee militant rule.

The Information Breach Was Discovered

An electronic document containing confidential details, comprising names, contact details and sometimes family information, was mistakenly released by an official stationed at British military command in last year.

The incident was discovered only in August 2023, when the names of multiple applicants who had applied to move to Britain appeared on Facebook.

Taliban Capabilities

“There seems to be a false assumption that Afghan rulers do not have similar capabilities that we have,” the whistleblower testified to lawmakers.

“We left it all behind in Afghanistan; it's in their hands. Once they acquire mobile details, they can locate your exact position. That's precisely what the unit accomplished.”

Under inquiry about regarding if authorities owned advanced decryption, Person A stated: “They've got everything.”

Impact of the Data Breach

Preliminary research provided to the committee indicated that approximately fifty kin and colleagues of Afghans affected by the breach had been killed.

A legal restriction regarding the incident was implemented in late 2023 and blocked relevant facts regarding the matter from public disclosure until July 2025.

Protective Actions

Due to legal constraints, Person A and the aid group she collaborated with informed individuals at risk they were working with that they had “suspicions that certain devices had been intercepted”.

“We recommended that they moved where feasible and switched their phone numbers. These represented the two main details that, should militant forces acquired this information, would result in them being traced,” she said.

Disputed Conclusions

The source disputed that government assessment conducted by a retired civil servant had been mistaken to determine that the obtaining of the dataset by the Taliban was “not significantly alter present danger”.

“The crucial point is that these individuals are not standing up to militant forces; they are in hiding. Everything boils down to past work history.”

She detailed terrible treatment experienced by concerned people, including electric shock torture, waterboarding, and severe beatings.

“Instances include young kids who have had their arms broken to pressure relatives to disclose hiding places,” Person A stated.