10 pregnant servicewomen sent home

London: Ten British servicewomen have been sent home from Afghanistan after discovering they were pregnant.

They were flown from the front line in the last six months under strict military rules which ban any woman who is expecting a child from battle duty.

Although it is unclear how many of the pregnancies resulted from relationships with colleagues, the mothers-to-be are likely to be investigated for breaching the military's tough sexual conduct rules, the Ministry of Defence warned.

All 700 women and 8,500 men serving in Afghanistan must obey the MoD's strict ‘no touching' policy when they arrive at the front line.

Between April and October this year more than 100 pregnancy testing kits were requested by female soldiers in Afghanistan and ten proved positive.

Some could have arrived at the battle zone unaware that they were already pregnant, the MoD said.