Suicide rate goes up among British soldiers in Afghanistan

Great Britain’s Ministry of Defense official statistics reveal that at least 50 British soldiers and veterans have committed suicide in the year 2012.
According to the BBC in 2012 more British soldiers committed suicide than died while fighting in Afghanistan.

As reported by the TV program “Panorama” of the BBC, over the last year 21 military servicemen and 29 soldiers back home from Afghanistan took their own lives.

This is while total combat deaths throughout the same year was reported 44 out of which 40 died during military operations.

Families of some of these servicemen say the soldiers have not been well-supported by the government. However, Great Britain’s Ministry of Defense claims that suicide rate among soldiers is lower than the average suicide rate in the society.

The British military is not the only foreign force in Afghanistan whose servicemen commit suicide. Americans showed a high suicide trend in 2012 just like their British counterparts.

Associated Press had previously reported that in 2012 at least 349 American solder committed suicide, while 295 dies while fighting in Afghanistan in the same year.