About 5,000 of the British army's foot soldiers, 20 percent of the military's infantry strength, are classed as unfit for front-line service, figures revealed by the defence ministry showed on Tuesday. Some cannot be deployed for reasons including physical injury, mental illness and a lack of fitness.
A small number of cases included troops aged under 18, pregnant soldiers and others unable to fight for compassionate reasons. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) figures, obtained under the Freedom of Information act, come as a further blow to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who has been accused of failing to give British soldiers enough protection in Afghanistan.
Conservative MP Bernard Jenkin, who obtained the figures, told the BBC: "To have 20 percent of the infantry unfit for the duties they are primarily employed and trained for is quite a staggering figure." The information, provided from a parliamentary written answer, showed 19 battalions had fewer than 500 fully deployable soldiers.