A whistleblower has told the Afghan leak inquiry that the UK left behind sensitive technology in Afghanistan, allowing the Taliban to track down Afghans who had worked with western forces. The woman, known as Person A, said affected individuals were advised to move homes and change phone numbers to protect themselves.
MPs are investigating the Conservative government's handling of a catastrophic leak in February 2022, when an official accidentally disclosed a spreadsheet containing personal details of nearly 19,000 Afghans who had applied to come to the UK. The leak only came to light in August 2023 after names appeared on Facebook.
Person A told the defence select committee on 18 November that the Taliban had access to encryption and de-encryption technologies left behind by UK forces. When asked if sensitive material and kit were left behind and used against the UK, she replied: 'Yes.'
Preliminary research submitted to the inquiry estimates that at least 49 family members and colleagues of those affected have been killed. Person A described horrific abuses, including electrocution, waterboarding, and whipping, as well as a four-year-old child having their arms broken to extract information.
A superinjunction imposed in August 2023 prevented public disclosure until July 2025. Person A said she was served the injunction without legal advice. She had alerted ministers James Heappey and Luke Pollard on 13 August 2023 but received no reply from Heappey until 28 August.
The Ministry of Defence defended the Rimmer review, which concluded that merely being on the dataset was unlikely to lead to targeting. Person A disputed this, noting that Afghans are in hiding and that the Taliban target families based on previous employment.
