Taliban Used Left-Behind British Technology to Find Afghans That Served With Western Troops, Investigation Learns

A whistleblower has disclosed a parliamentary probe that the UK abandoned confidential technology permitting the militant group to track down local individuals who worked with international military.

Data Breach Endangers Thousands at Risk

The source, identified as Person A, testified that Afghans affected by the data leak were advised to relocate and alter their mobile numbers to ensure their safety from militant forces.

Members of Parliament are currently examining the Conservative government's response of a massive breach of private information involving approximately 19k Afghans who had applied to relocate to the United Kingdom to avoid the regime.

Data Disclosure Was Discovered

A data file containing confidential details, including names, contact details and occasionally relative details, was inadvertently disclosed by a worker working at UK special forces headquarters in February 2022.

The breach came to light only in August 2023, when details of nine people who had requested to relocate to the UK appeared on social media.

Taliban Capabilities

“There seems to be this misconception that the Taliban lack similar capabilities that allied forces use,” the whistleblower testified to lawmakers.

All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; they have it. Once they acquire a contact number, they can locate your exact position. That's precisely what intelligence groups did.”

Under inquiry about if militant forces owned sophisticated technology, the whistleblower stated: “They have complete capability.”

Impact of the Security Lapse

Initial findings presented to the inquiry estimated that approximately fifty family members and co-workers of people concerned by the incident had been executed.

A gag order about the breach was implemented in late 2023 and restricted relevant facts regarding the matter from media reporting until July 2025.

Security Recommendations

Due to legal constraints, the whistleblower and the aid group she collaborated with informed individuals at risk they were working with that they had “apprehensions that mobile communications had been intercepted”.

“Our suggestion was that they change residence if they could and switched their phone numbers. These represented the primary information that, should militant forces obtained these details, would cause identification and capture,” she said.

Challenged Assessments

The whistleblower disputed that an official review carried out by a retired civil servant had been wrong to determine that the acquisition of the records by the regime was “not significantly alter an individual's existing exposure”.

“The thing to remember is that affected people are not confronting the Taliban; they live secretly. All concerns relate to former occupations.”

Person A described disturbing abuse experienced by concerned people, including electrocution, waterboarding, and violent assaults.

“Instances include four-year-old children who have had limbs fractured to try to get the family to say where someone is,” the whistleblower revealed.