What’s behind the surge in suicides by UK veterans of the Afghan war?

Government expresses concern as 14 former soldiers kill themselves in two months

British army soldier
(Image credit: Marco Di Lauro/Getty Images)

There has been a surge in suicides this year among former British soldiers who took part in the war in Afghanistan.

More than 70 former and serving personnel took their lives in 2018 and at least 50 suicides occurred last year. Fourteen former and serving personnel are thought to have taken their own lives in the past two months alone.

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