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A whistleblower has revealed an official investigation that the UK abandoned classified devices allowing Afghanistan's rulers to locate Afghans who collaborated with allied troops.

Data Breach Endangers Numerous in Danger

Person A, identified as Person A, explained that Afghans affected by the data leak were advised to relocate and alter their contact details to protect themselves from the Taliban.

MPs are currently examining official handling of a serious disclosure of private information affecting approximately 19k individuals who had requested to come to Britain to avoid the regime.

The Information Breach Occurred

An electronic document containing private information, including identities, contact details and in some cases relative details, was mistakenly released by a worker employed at special operations center in early 2022.

The leak came to light in late 2023, when details of multiple applicants who had sought to move to the UK surfaced on social media.

Regime's Resources

“There seems to be a misunderstanding that Afghan rulers lack the same sort of facilities that allied forces use,” the whistleblower testified to MPs.

All equipment was abandoned in Afghanistan; they have it. If they have your phone number, they can trace your exact position. This is exactly how intelligence groups did.”

During testimony about whether the Taliban possessed sophisticated technology, the whistleblower confirmed: “They possess all resources.”

Aftermath of the Data Breach

Preliminary research provided to the inquiry indicated that at least 49 relatives and colleagues of Afghans affected by the leak had been executed.

A superinjunction regarding the breach was implemented in last year and prevented relevant facts about it from media reporting until recently.

Safety Measures

Given injunction limitations, the whistleblower and the aid group associated with told affected households they were assisting that they had “apprehensions that mobile communications had been compromised”.

“We recommended that they moved when possible and changed their mobile numbers. Those were the crucial data that, if the Taliban acquired these details, would result in their location being found,” the source testified.

Contested Findings

Person A disputed that internal investigation carried out by an ex-government employee had been mistaken to determine that the obtaining of the records by the regime was “unlikely to substantially change current risk levels”.

“The thing to remember is that affected people are in hiding from the authorities; they live secretly. The primary issue involves their previous employment.”

She detailed disturbing violence endured by at-risk Afghans, involving electrocution, waterboarding, and violent assaults.

“Instances include four-year-old children who have had their arms broken to try to get relatives to reveal locations,” the whistleblower revealed.