Taliban Employed Abandoned British Equipment to Track Down Afghans That Served With Western Troops, Investigation Is Told
An informant has disclosed the Afghan leak inquiry that the UK left behind classified equipment allowing the militant group to track down Afghans who collaborated with international military.
Data Breach Puts Numerous at Risk
The whistleblower, known as Person A, explained that Afghans affected by the data leak were told to relocate and alter their mobile numbers to ensure their safety from militant forces.
MPs are investigating official management of a serious leak of private information involving nearly 19,000 individuals who had applied to move to Britain to avoid the Taliban.
The Information Breach Was Discovered
An electronic document with private information, comprising identities, addresses and in some cases relative details, was inadvertently disclosed by a staff member stationed at UK special forces headquarters in February 2022.
The breach was discovered months later, when identities of multiple applicants who had sought to relocate to Britain were posted on social media.
Taliban Capabilities
It appears there is this misconception that the Taliban lack the same sort of facilities that western nations possess,” she told the committee.
All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; they have it. Once they acquire your phone number, they can locate you down to within metres. This is exactly how specialized teams accomplished.”
When questioned about whether the Taliban owned advanced decryption, the source declared: “They have complete capability.”
Aftermath of the Information Leak
Initial findings provided to the committee suggested that approximately fifty kin and associates of Afghans affected by the leak had been killed.
A gag order concerning the breach was enacted in late 2023 and restricted all details regarding the matter from media reporting until recently.
Safety Measures
Given injunction limitations, Person A and the volunteer organization associated with advised Afghan families they were working with that they had “apprehensions that certain devices had been breached”.
“Our suggestion was that they change residence when possible and changed their contact details. These represented the crucial data that, should militant forces had access to this information, would lead to identification and capture,” the source testified.
Disputed Conclusions
The source contested that government assessment performed by a former official had been wrong to determine that the possession of the records by militant forces was “not significantly alter current risk levels”.
“The important fact is that these individuals are in hiding from the Taliban; they live secretly. Everything boils down to past work history.”
The source explained terrible violence endured by affected individuals, including electric shock torture, waterboarding, and severe beatings.
“There are cases of toddlers who have had their arms broken to try to get the family to disclose hiding places,” she testified.
