Taliban Employed Discarded British Equipment to Track Down Afghans Who Worked With Allied Troops, Investigation Learns
An informant has revealed a parliamentary probe that British authorities failed to secure classified technology allowing the Taliban to locate Afghans that had served with international military.
Data Breach Puts Thousands in Danger
The whistleblower, known as Person A, stated that Afghans affected by the data leak were told to relocate and change their phone numbers to avoid detection from the Taliban.
Lawmakers are investigating official management of a massive disclosure of private information involving nearly 19,000 Afghans who had requested to come to the UK to escape the Taliban.
Data Disclosure Occurred
A data file with private information, such as identities, addresses and in some cases relative details, was inadvertently disclosed by an official working at UK special forces headquarters in early 2022.
The leak was discovered in late 2023, when the names of several individuals who had sought to settle in Britain surfaced on online platforms.
Militant Technology
“There seems to be a false assumption that the Taliban are without comparable resources that we have,” the whistleblower testified to lawmakers.
Technology was deserted in Afghanistan; they have it. If they have your phone number, they are able to track your precise location. This is exactly how the unit achieved.”
During testimony about whether the Taliban owned sophisticated technology, the source stated: “They've got everything.”
Aftermath of the Security Lapse
Initial findings provided to the investigation indicated that no fewer than forty-nine kin and associates of people concerned by the breach had been murdered.
A gag order about the leak was put in force in last year and restricted relevant facts regarding the matter from being made public until mid-2025.
Safety Measures
Due to legal constraints, the source and the volunteer organization she was working with advised affected households they were supporting that they had “concerns that somebody's phone had been breached”.
“We advised that they moved if they could and switched their contact details. These represented the primary information that, if the Taliban obtained such data, would cause identification and capture,” she said.
Challenged Assessments
The whistleblower argued that government assessment performed by an ex-government employee had been mistaken to state that the possession of the records by the regime was “minimally impact current risk levels”.
“The important fact is that these individuals are not confronting militant forces; they are in hiding. Everything boils down to former occupations.”
The source explained horrific violence suffered by affected individuals, involving electric shock torture, waterboarding, and physical abuse.
“There are cases of young kids who have had their arms broken to pressure relatives to reveal locations,” the whistleblower revealed.
