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An informant has disclosed an official investigation that British authorities left behind sensitive technology enabling Afghanistan's rulers to track down Afghans who worked with western forces.

Information Leak Puts Numerous at Risk

Person A, identified as Person A, explained that individuals impacted by the security lapse were instructed to change residences and switch their phone numbers to avoid detection from the ruling authorities.

Lawmakers are looking into the UK government's management of a catastrophic breach of private information involving nearly 19,000 individuals who had requested to relocate to Britain to escape militant rule.

The Information Breach Was Discovered

A spreadsheet containing confidential details, including names, addresses and occasionally household data, was accidentally leaked by a staff member working at British military command in early 2022.

The leak came to light in late 2023, when the names of nine people who had requested to move to Britain appeared on online platforms.

Militant Technology

Many believe there's a false assumption that militant forces do not have comparable resources that we have,” the whistleblower testified to MPs.

“We left it all behind in Afghanistan; it's in their hands. Should they obtain your phone number, they can locate your exact position. That is what the unit achieved.”

Under inquiry about if militant forces possessed advanced decryption, Person A declared: “They possess all resources.”

Consequences of the Information Leak

Preliminary research provided to the committee indicated that approximately fifty kin and co-workers of people concerned by the incident had been executed.

A gag order concerning the leak was implemented in August 2023 and blocked all details about it from media reporting until July 2025.

Safety Measures

Because she was restricted, the source and the non-governmental organization she collaborated with advised individuals at risk they were assisting that they had “apprehensions that mobile communications had been compromised”.

“We advised that they relocate where feasible and changed their phone numbers. That constituted the two main details that, if authorities had access to these details, would result in their location being found,” she said.

Disputed Conclusions

The whistleblower contested that an official review performed by a retired civil servant had been mistaken to conclude that the acquisition of the dataset by militant forces was “minimally impact current risk levels”.

“The thing to remember is that these Afghans are not standing up to the authorities; they are in hiding. All concerns relate to their previous employment.”

She detailed terrible violence experienced by at-risk Afghans, involving electrocution, simulated drowning, and violent assaults.

“We have had four-year-old children who have had bones crushed to force households to say where someone is,” she testified.