British army suicides higher than war toll

KABUL, UK media report on Sunday.

Fresh data shows eight of the service members took their own lives during a deployment itself, while the rest committed suicide at some point afterwards.

According to the Telegraph newspaper, 23 of the 42 soldiers committed suicide on Ministry of Defence (MoD) property, mainly inside Britain. Six personnel killed themselves in Iraq and two in Afghanistan.

Young veterans were twice as likely to end it all, believing greater help could be provided to them, the newspaper quoted the Mental Health Foundation as saying.

On the other hand, the Ministry of Defence found no link between operations and suicide incidents in the armed forces. “Overall, suicide rates are lower in the armed forces than in the civilian population,” a spokesman said.

Only 44 men and women in uniform were killed during clashes, and more than 50 took their own lives. Figures from the ministry show the number of soldiers with post traumatic stress disorder has more than doubled in the past three years among those who served in Afghanistan.

PAN Monitor/mud

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