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A confidential source has told the Afghan leak inquiry that the UK abandoned sensitive equipment permitting the Taliban to identify Afghans that had served with allied troops.

Information Leak Endangers Numerous at Risk

The whistleblower, known as Person A, stated that Afghans affected by the security lapse were advised to relocate and change their phone numbers to protect themselves from militant forces.

Lawmakers are looking into the Conservative government's management of a catastrophic leak of confidential data involving approximately 19k individuals who had applied to come to the UK to avoid the regime.

How the Leak Happened

A spreadsheet containing confidential details, comprising identities, addresses and in some cases family information, was mistakenly released by a worker working at special operations center in February 2022.

The incident was discovered months later, when the names of multiple applicants who had sought to move to the UK were posted on social media.

Regime's Resources

It appears there is a false assumption that militant forces lack comparable resources that western nations possess,” she told MPs.

All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; they possess it. Once they acquire a contact number, they can locate your precise location. That's precisely what specialized teams achieved.”

During testimony about regarding if authorities owned sophisticated technology, the whistleblower confirmed: “They have complete capability.”

Impact of the Information Leak

Preliminary research provided to the committee indicated that at least 49 relatives and co-workers of Afghans affected by the breach had been killed.

A gag order about the breach was enacted in last year and prevented any information concerning it from public disclosure until July 2025.

Safety Measures

Due to legal constraints, Person A and the non-governmental organization associated with told individuals at risk they were working with that they had “suspicions that somebody's phone had been compromised”.

“We recommended that they change residence where feasible and switched their contact details. Those were the crucial data that, if authorities acquired this information, would cause identification and capture,” she said.

Contested Findings

Person A argued that internal investigation performed by a former official had been mistaken to state that the possession 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 live secretly. All concerns relate to past work history.”

Person A described disturbing abuse experienced by concerned people, including electric shock torture, interrogation techniques, and severe beatings.

“Instances include toddlers who have had their arms broken to pressure households to say where someone is,” she testified.