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A confidential source has revealed the Afghan leak inquiry that British authorities failed to secure sensitive equipment enabling Afghanistan's rulers to locate Afghans who collaborated with international military.

Data Breach Endangers Numerous at Risk

The whistleblower, known as Person A, testified that individuals impacted by the security lapse were instructed to move homes and change their mobile numbers to avoid detection from militant forces.

MPs are investigating the UK government's handling of a massive disclosure of personal details involving approximately 19k Afghans who had applied to relocate to Britain to avoid militant rule.

Data Disclosure Occurred

An electronic document containing confidential details, such as identities, addresses and sometimes household data, was mistakenly released by a staff member stationed at British military command in February 2022.

The leak came to light months later, when identities of multiple applicants who had requested to settle in the UK were posted on Facebook.

Militant Technology

Many believe there's this misconception that the Taliban lack the same sort of facilities that allied forces use,” Person A informed MPs.

All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; they possess it. If they have your phone number, they can locate your exact position. That's precisely what specialized teams did.”

When questioned about if militant forces had access to sophisticated technology, Person A confirmed: “They possess all resources.”

Consequences of the Security Lapse

Preliminary research submitted to the inquiry indicated that at least 49 family members and associates of people concerned by the leak had been murdered.

A gag order about the leak was implemented in August 2023 and prevented all details regarding the matter from public disclosure until July 2025.

Safety Measures

Because she was restricted, the source and the volunteer organization she collaborated with advised affected households they were working with that they had “apprehensions that mobile communications had been compromised”.

“We advised that they change residence when possible and switched their mobile numbers. Those were the primary information that, should militant forces acquired this information, would lead to them being traced,” Person A explained.

Challenged Assessments

Person A argued that internal investigation performed by a former official had been incorrect to state that the obtaining of the dataset by the Taliban was “unlikely to substantially change current risk levels”.

“The thing to remember is that these individuals are not confronting militant forces; they remain concealed. The primary issue involves their previous employment.”

She detailed disturbing abuse endured by affected individuals, including electric shock torture, interrogation techniques, and physical abuse.

“We have had four-year-old children who have had their arms broken to pressure relatives to say where someone is,” she testified.