Afghanistan

Underage soldier fights on frontline

It has been revealed that a teenage British Soldier was deployed to Afghanistan despite being under age.

Kingsman Adam Wilkie, from 2nd Battalion the Duke of Lancaster’s regiment, is reported to have spent six weeks fighting in Helmand in 2010 aged just 17.

When he was serving near Lashkar Gah Kingsman Wilikie was three months too young to legally go to war, buy alcohol and cigarettes or even play the video game “Call of Duty”.

According to the Sun newspaper he managed to dodge strict checks on age because he was deployed from Cyprus as part of the Theatre Reserve Battalion, rather than from the UK.

An Army spokesman said today the fact an individual of that age was sent to an operational theatre was “regrettable” and the result of human error.

The service says its processes are robust but it has taken action to ensure it doesn’t happen again.