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A confidential source has revealed the Afghan leak inquiry that British authorities failed to secure classified devices enabling the militant group to identify Afghans who collaborated with international military.

Data Breach Puts Thousands at Risk

The source, identified as Person A, testified that Afghans affected by the security lapse were told to move homes and switch their contact details to protect themselves from the Taliban.

Lawmakers are looking into the Conservative government's handling of a serious breach of private information affecting almost nineteen thousand individuals who had requested to move to Britain to escape the Taliban.

The Information Breach Was Discovered

An electronic document containing their personal data, including names, addresses and occasionally relative details, was mistakenly released by a staff member stationed at UK special forces headquarters in last year.

The leak became known months later, when the names of several individuals who had requested to move to Britain appeared on online platforms.

Taliban Capabilities

Many believe there's a false assumption that the Taliban do not have similar capabilities that we have,” the whistleblower testified to MPs.

All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; they possess it. If they have a contact number, they can locate your precise location. That is what specialized teams achieved.”

When questioned about whether the Taliban owned necessary encryption, the source declared: “They've got everything.”

Consequences of the Data Breach

Early investigations provided to the investigation indicated that no fewer than forty-nine relatives and co-workers of people concerned by the incident had been executed.

A gag order concerning the incident was enacted in last year and restricted all details concerning it from public disclosure until July 2025.

Security Recommendations

Due to legal constraints, Person A and the non-governmental organization she was working with told affected households they were working with that they had “concerns that somebody's phone had been intercepted”.

“We recommended that they moved if they could and switched their contact details. Those were the primary information that, if the Taliban acquired such data, would cause them being traced,” Person A explained.

Disputed Conclusions

The whistleblower contested that internal investigation performed by a former official had been incorrect to determine that the acquisition of the information by the regime was “minimally impact present danger”.

“The important fact is that these Afghans are not confronting militant forces; they are in hiding. The primary issue involves former occupations.”

Person A described disturbing treatment suffered by concerned people, involving electrocution, waterboarding, and violent assaults.

“There are cases of toddlers who have had their arms broken to try to get the family to disclose hiding places,” she testified.