đ Share this article Taliban Employed Discarded British Equipment to Track Down Local Nationals That Served With Allied Forces, Investigation Is Told An informant has told a parliamentary probe that the UK failed to secure confidential technology allowing Afghanistan's rulers to track down Afghans that had served with allied troops. Data Breach Puts Numerous at Risk Person A, known as Person A, explained that Afghans affected by the security lapse were advised to relocate and alter their contact details to ensure their safety from the Taliban. Lawmakers are currently examining the Conservative government's management of a massive breach of private information involving nearly 19,000 Afghans who had asked to move to the UK to escape the regime. Data Disclosure Occurred A data file including private information, comprising identities, phone numbers and in some cases relative details, was accidentally leaked by a worker employed at UK special forces headquarters in February 2022. The breach came to light only in August 2023, when identities of nine people who had requested to relocate to Britain surfaced on Facebook. Regime's Resources âThere seems to be this misconception that Afghan rulers are without comparable resources that allied forces use,â she told MPs. Technology was deserted in Afghanistan; they possess it. Should they obtain your phone number, they are able to track your precise location. That's precisely what the unit did.â When questioned about whether the Taliban possessed sophisticated technology, the source stated: âThey have complete capability.â Aftermath of the Security Lapse Preliminary research provided to the committee suggested that at least 49 kin and associates of individuals impacted by the leak had been murdered. A superinjunction concerning the leak was enacted in August 2023 and prevented all details regarding the matter from public disclosure until July 2025. Safety Measures Because she was restricted, Person A and the non-governmental organization associated with advised affected households they were working with that they had âapprehensions that somebody's phone had been interceptedâ. âWe recommended that they change residence when possible and changed their phone numbers. Those were the primary information that, if authorities had access to such data, would result in their location being found,â the source testified. Disputed Conclusions The source argued that an official review carried out by an ex-government employee had been incorrect to state that the obtaining of the dataset by the regime was ânot significantly alter current risk levelsâ. âThe crucial point is that affected people are not confronting militant forces; they live secretly. All concerns relate to former occupations.â Person A described terrible abuse suffered by concerned people, including electric shock torture, simulated drowning, and violent assaults. âWe have had four-year-old children who have had their arms broken to force households to disclose hiding places,â the whistleblower revealed.