🔗 Share this article Taliban Employed Discarded UK Gear to Locate Local Nationals Who Worked Alongside Western Troops, Inquiry Is Told A whistleblower has revealed the Afghan leak inquiry that the UK abandoned classified equipment permitting Afghanistan's rulers to identify local individuals that had served with international military. Data Breach Endangers Numerous at Risk The source, called Person A, stated that individuals impacted by the data leak were told to relocate and change their phone numbers to avoid detection from the Taliban. MPs are investigating the UK government's handling of a catastrophic disclosure of private information involving nearly 19,000 Afghans who had applied to come to the United Kingdom to escape the regime. Data Disclosure Was Discovered A data file including confidential details, including identities, contact details and occasionally family information, was inadvertently disclosed by a worker employed at special operations center in last year. The breach became known only in August 2023, when the names of several individuals who had sought to relocate to the UK were posted on social media. Taliban Capabilities Many believe there's a misunderstanding that militant forces are without comparable resources that western nations possess,” she told MPs. All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; it's in their hands. Should they obtain a contact number, they are able to track you down to within metres. That's precisely what specialized teams did.” When questioned about whether the Taliban possessed necessary encryption, Person A declared: “They've got everything.” Aftermath of the Data Breach Initial findings submitted to the inquiry indicated that approximately fifty family members and co-workers of people concerned by the incident had been executed. A superinjunction concerning the leak was implemented in late 2023 and blocked all details concerning it from media reporting until recently. Safety Measures Given injunction limitations, the whistleblower and the volunteer organization she collaborated with informed individuals at risk they were assisting that they had “apprehensions that certain devices had been compromised”. “We recommended that they change residence when possible and altered their contact details. These represented the primary information that, if authorities obtained such data, would lead to their location being found,” the source testified. Contested Findings Person A disputed that an official review carried out by a former official had been mistaken to determine that the possession of the information by militant forces was “unlikely to substantially change an individual's existing exposure”. “The thing to remember is that these individuals are not standing up to the Taliban; they remain concealed. The primary issue involves their previous employment.” The source explained horrific treatment suffered by affected individuals, involving electrocution, waterboarding, and physical abuse. “Instances include four-year-old children who have had limbs fractured to try to get households to disclose hiding places,” Person A stated.