Government 'isn't coming clean' on casualty figures in Iraq, claims MP

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THE government should come clean on the number of soldiers wounded in the Iraq conflict, says MP Richard Benyon.

The Newbury MP says the number of seriously injured soldiers returning from the white-hot war zone was becoming "one of the best kept secrets in the country".

He told the Commons the 2nd Rifles, which recruits from Berkshire, had recently returned from Basra with 50 injured - as well as three killed - from a battalion strength of 650.

And the 4th Rifles, which is now in Iraq, had 15 soldiers wounded and one killed in only the first 48 hours of its tour.