Britain’s armed forces minister has doubled back on claims about some veterans dying by suicide following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan. James Heappey told Sky News that he knew of soldiers, including one who served with him in Afghanistan in 2009, who had taken “their lives in the last week or so” as they were overwhelmed by what had been happening in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the US-led Western exit from the country. Heappey, a former army major, said the hurt among the veterans’ community was “hugely concerning and upsetting” for people like him.

However, he later took to Twitter to say he was “sorry to have said something that might not be true.” Heappey said the ministry of defense wasn’t certain about the authenticity of the suicide note allegedly left behind the veteran he was referring to in his earlier comments to Sky.

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Heappey also told BBC that the ministry, which said he had misspoken, was “looking very, very carefully at whether or not it is true that someone has taken their life in the last few days.”

Britain’s 457 armed forces personnel are among 13% of the 3,500 casualties suffered by the US-led coalition in Afghanistan since 2001.

The head of the country’s armed forces, General Sir Nick Carter, had also spoken about the “heartbreaking” moments his military had to face during the evacuation process in Afghanistan, which ended with the last US troops leaving the country ahead of the August 31 deadline. The final UK evacuation flight for Afghan nationals left the Kabul airport on August 28. For two weeks, the facility came to symbolize the desperation of thousands of Afghans trying to flee the country, as over 120 people were killed in stampedes, firing, and a suicide bombing and gun attack by Islamic State militants.