🔗 Share this article Taliban Employed Left-Behind British Equipment to Find Local Nationals That Served Alongside Western Troops, Inquiry Is Told An informant has told the Afghan leak inquiry that British authorities left behind sensitive devices enabling Afghanistan's rulers to locate Afghans who worked with allied troops. Data Breach Endangers Thousands in Danger The source, identified as Person A, testified that people concerned by the security lapse were told to move homes and change their phone numbers to avoid detection from the ruling authorities. MPs are currently examining the UK government's handling of a catastrophic disclosure of personal details affecting nearly 19,000 Afghans who had requested to come to the United Kingdom to avoid the regime. How the Leak Happened A spreadsheet with their personal data, comprising names, contact details and occasionally family information, was inadvertently disclosed by an official employed at special operations center in February 2022. The incident came to light only in August 2023, when details of multiple applicants who had applied to settle in the UK were posted on Facebook. Taliban Capabilities It appears there is a misunderstanding that militant forces do not have the same sort of facilities that allied forces use,” the whistleblower testified to lawmakers. “We left it all behind in Afghanistan; they have it. Once they acquire mobile details, they are able to track you down to within metres. That is what specialized teams achieved.” During testimony about if militant forces owned advanced decryption, Person A stated: “They possess all resources.” Impact of the Data Breach Early investigations provided to the inquiry indicated that no fewer than forty-nine relatives and associates of people concerned by the leak had been executed. A superinjunction regarding the leak was put in force in last year and blocked any information about it from media reporting until recently. Safety Measures Because she was restricted, the whistleblower and the aid group she collaborated with told Afghan families they were working with that they had “suspicions that mobile communications had been intercepted”. “Our suggestion was that they relocate when possible and altered their mobile numbers. These represented the two main details that, if authorities had access to these details, would lead to identification and capture,” she said. Disputed Conclusions The whistleblower contested that government assessment conducted by a retired civil servant had been mistaken to determine that the obtaining of the records by the Taliban was “not significantly alter current risk levels”. “The important fact is that affected people are not confronting militant forces; they remain concealed. Everything boils down to past work history.” The source explained horrific abuse experienced by affected individuals, including electrocution, waterboarding, and severe beatings. “There are cases of young kids who have had bones crushed to pressure households to say where someone is,” the whistleblower revealed.