🔗 Share this article Taliban Employed Discarded UK Equipment to Find Afghans Who Worked With Western Forces, Investigation Learns A whistleblower has told the Afghan leak inquiry that British authorities abandoned classified equipment permitting the Taliban to track down Afghans who worked with western forces. Information Leak Endangers Thousands in Danger Person A, identified as Person A, stated that individuals impacted by the information breach were advised to change residences and change their mobile numbers to avoid detection from the Taliban. MPs are looking into official handling of a serious leak of confidential data concerning almost nineteen thousand Afghans who had applied to move to Britain to escape militant rule. How the Leak Was Discovered An electronic document containing their personal data, including names, phone numbers and in some cases relative details, was accidentally leaked by an official working at special operations center in February 2022. The incident was discovered in late 2023, when identities of multiple applicants who had sought to move to Britain appeared on online platforms. Regime's Resources It appears there is a false assumption that Afghan rulers lack comparable resources that we have,” she told the committee. All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; they possess it. Should they obtain mobile details, they are able to track you down to within metres. This is exactly how the unit achieved.” Under inquiry about if militant forces owned sophisticated technology, the source declared: “They possess all resources.” Aftermath of the Data Breach Preliminary research presented to the committee suggested that at least 49 kin and colleagues of people concerned by the breach had been murdered. A gag order about the breach was put in force in late 2023 and prevented any information about it from being made public until recently. Safety Measures Because she was restricted, the whistleblower and the aid group associated with advised affected households they were working with that they had “apprehensions that somebody's phone had been intercepted”. “Our suggestion was that they change residence where feasible and switched their contact details. These represented the primary information that, if the Taliban obtained this information, would cause identification and capture,” Person A explained. Contested Findings The whistleblower disputed that government assessment performed by a former official had been mistaken to conclude that the possession of the records by militant forces was “unlikely to substantially change present danger”. “The important fact is that these individuals are not confronting the Taliban; they live secretly. All concerns relate to past work history.” She detailed terrible violence suffered by at-risk Afghans, including electrocution, interrogation techniques, and violent assaults. “We have had young kids who have had limbs fractured to force households to disclose hiding places,” the whistleblower revealed.