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A confidential source has disclosed the Afghan leak inquiry that the UK failed to secure confidential equipment enabling the militant group to identify Afghans who collaborated with allied troops.

Data Breach Endangers Thousands in Danger

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

Lawmakers are looking into the UK government's handling of a massive disclosure of private information affecting almost nineteen thousand Afghans who had applied to come to Britain to escape militant rule.

The Information Breach Was Discovered

A spreadsheet containing confidential details, comprising names, phone numbers and occasionally household data, was inadvertently disclosed by a worker working at British military command in early 2022.

The incident came to light only in August 2023, when identities of several individuals who had applied to move to Britain appeared on Facebook.

Militant Technology

“There seems to be this misconception that Afghan rulers do not have comparable resources that allied forces use,” she told lawmakers.

All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; they possess it. Once they acquire a contact number, they can trace your exact position. That is what intelligence groups accomplished.”

When questioned about if militant forces owned sophisticated technology, the whistleblower stated: “They've got everything.”

Consequences of the Data Breach

Early investigations presented to the investigation indicated that approximately fifty family members and co-workers of Afghans affected by the leak had been killed.

A gag order about the leak was put in force in August 2023 and blocked any information about it from public disclosure until mid-2025.

Protective Actions

Because she was restricted, the source and the volunteer organization she was working with advised Afghan families they were supporting that they had “suspicions that somebody's phone had been compromised”.

“Our suggestion was that they moved where feasible and switched their contact details. That constituted the two main details that, if authorities obtained such data, would result in them being traced,” she said.

Challenged Assessments

The whistleblower argued that an official review performed by an ex-government employee had been incorrect to conclude that the acquisition of the information by the regime was “unlikely to substantially change present danger”.

“The thing to remember is that these Afghans are in hiding from militant forces; they live secretly. The primary issue involves past work history.”

Person A described terrible abuse suffered by at-risk Afghans, involving electric shock torture, simulated drowning, and severe beatings.

“Instances include four-year-old children who have had bones crushed to try to get relatives to disclose hiding places,” she testified.