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An informant has disclosed the Afghan leak inquiry that the UK failed to secure confidential devices allowing Afghanistan's rulers to identify local individuals who collaborated with international military.

Information Leak Puts Thousands at Risk

The source, identified as Person A, stated that individuals impacted by the security lapse were instructed to change residences and change their mobile numbers to ensure their safety from militant forces.

Members of Parliament are currently examining the UK government's management of a massive breach of personal details affecting approximately 19k individuals who had applied to move to Britain to avoid the regime.

Data Disclosure Happened

A spreadsheet containing private information, such as names, phone numbers and in some cases household data, was accidentally leaked by a worker employed at UK special forces headquarters in February 2022.

The leak became known in late 2023, when details of nine people who had requested to move to the UK were posted on social media.

Militant Technology

“There seems to be this misconception that Afghan rulers are without comparable resources that we have,” she told MPs.

Technology was deserted in Afghanistan; it's in their hands. If they have mobile details, they are able to track your precise location. That's precisely what intelligence groups accomplished.”

During testimony about regarding if authorities had access to advanced decryption, the source stated: “They have complete capability.”

Aftermath of the Data Breach

Preliminary research submitted to the investigation indicated that approximately fifty family members and colleagues of people concerned by the leak had been killed.

A gag order regarding the breach was implemented in late 2023 and restricted any information regarding the matter from public disclosure until mid-2025.

Security Recommendations

Due to legal constraints, Person A and the non-governmental organization she collaborated with told Afghan families they were supporting that they had “suspicions that mobile communications had been compromised”.

“We recommended that they moved where feasible and altered their contact details. Those were the primary information that, if the Taliban had access to such data, would lead to them being traced,” Person A explained.

Contested Findings

The source contested that an official review carried out by a former official had been wrong to state that the obtaining of the information by the regime was “not significantly alter an individual's existing exposure”.

“The crucial point is that these Afghans are not confronting militant forces; they are in hiding. All concerns relate to past work history.”

The source explained disturbing violence experienced by at-risk Afghans, involving 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,” she testified.