Taliban Used Discarded British Gear to Track Down Afghans Who Worked With Western Troops, Investigation Hears

An informant has revealed an official investigation that the UK left behind classified technology enabling the Taliban to identify Afghans who collaborated with western forces.

Information Leak Puts Numerous at Risk

The whistleblower, called Person A, explained that people concerned by the security lapse were told to change residences and change their contact details to avoid detection from militant forces.

Members of Parliament are investigating official management of a catastrophic breach of personal details involving approximately 19k individuals who had requested to come to Britain to escape the Taliban.

How the Leak Happened

A data file with their personal data, comprising names, addresses and sometimes relative details, was mistakenly released by a staff member stationed at UK special forces headquarters in early 2022.

The incident was discovered only in August 2023, when the names of nine people who had requested to move to the UK appeared on social media.

Taliban Capabilities

“There seems to be a false assumption that Afghan rulers are without the same sort of facilities that allied forces use,” she told lawmakers.

“We left it all behind in Afghanistan; they have it. If they have your phone number, they can trace you down to within metres. That's precisely what intelligence groups did.”

When questioned about if militant forces owned advanced decryption, Person A declared: “They have complete capability.”

Aftermath of the Security Lapse

Early investigations submitted to the investigation indicated that approximately fifty kin and co-workers of Afghans affected by the breach had been murdered.

A legal restriction regarding the incident was put in force in last year and restricted any information regarding the matter from public disclosure until recently.

Safety Measures

Due to legal constraints, the whistleblower and the non-governmental organization she was working with told Afghan families they were assisting that they had “apprehensions that certain devices had been breached”.

“We advised that they relocate where feasible and switched their contact details. Those were the primary information that, should militant forces had access to these details, would cause their location being found,” Person A explained.

Contested Findings

The source disputed that government assessment performed by a former official had been mistaken to conclude that the acquisition of the information by the Taliban was “minimally impact current risk levels”.

“The important fact is that these individuals are in hiding from militant forces; they remain concealed. Everything boils down to former occupations.”

The source explained terrible abuse suffered by concerned people, comprising electrocution, simulated drowning, and severe beatings.

“There are cases of four-year-old children who have had limbs fractured to force the family to disclose hiding places,” she testified.