Defence officials in the UK have admitted the body parts of 30 soldiers killed in Afghanistan have been kept by the Ministry of Defence without the permission of their families,

The remains were discovered last month when a new manager was appointed at the Military Police's Special Investigations Branch

The MoD said it will write a formal apology to the families once it has confirmed the identies of the body parts and tissue

It would confirm the identities of those involved on Thursday and write to families offering a formal apology and details of the material held.

Major General James Everard, Assistant Chief of the General Staff said the samples relate to 30 service personnel dating back to 2002 and confirmed that two families have so far been informed.

"We owe a huge apology to the families involved and those who will now be feeling stressful even if it doesn't affect them," he said.

An Army spokesman said: "There are occasions when it is necessary for the RMP Special Investigations Branch to retain slides of forensic material from individuals killed on operations as part of their investigation - this is standard practice.

"However, the RMP identified there were a small number of cases where this had been done without the correct processes being followed to inform families."

An urgent investigation has been launched and a helpline for concerned relatives has been posted on the MoD website.

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