The government admits that the Facebook post behind the allegations of the suicide of the veteran minister in Afghanistan is probably fake

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A minister was forced to back off after claiming that a British veteran who served in Afghanistan had committed suicide – admitting he made a “very embarrassing” mistake after seeing the post on social media.

Armed Forces Minister James Hebei said Monday morning that a soldier who was accompanying him on his latest tour in Afghanistan has committed suicide in recent days, apparently dazed by the fall of Kabul to the Taliban.

But Mr Hebei later apologized and said the claim was “inaccurate” – revealing that he based his claim on an apparent suicide note posted on social media.

“A suicide note was shared on social media last weekend which referred in very minute detail to the tour I was on which was with 2 Rifles at Sangin in 2009,” he told ITV Good Morning Britain.

“I am very embarrassed to think of something I saw on social media, that shocked me as so real and affected me deeply,” the minister added.

A spokesperson for the Department of Defense said it is still looking into the viral social media post posted on Facebook – but officials believe it is likely fake.

The Independent understands that the Department of Defense is still looking into the origin of the initial job as well as checking service personnel records. But officials did an initial check through employee records, and they are confident the suicide note was a forgery.

The blunder occurred when Mr Heappey told Sky News host Kay Burley that at least one of the veterans from the conflict had committed suicide “because they felt the consequences of the withdrawal”.

But he later corrected himself at both BBC Breakfast and GMB – and apologized to Sky News journalists on Twitter for making the claim on air.

“I regret that I said something that may not be true. The note very accurately referred to my last tour of Afghanistan with 2 RIFLES in 2009 and I spent the weekend fearing that my colleague had committed suicide,” said Mr. Heappey.

He added, “However, the Ministry of Defense is not sure that the memo is real so it wanted to clarify … The Army and the Ministry of Defense are working quickly to determine whether the memo is real or not.”

Despite the claim during his media tour on Monday, the defense secretary also admitted that there was “awareness, I think, already within the Department of Defense over the weekend, that the suicide note may not be real.”

Hebei, a former military major who served in Afghanistan with The Rifles, said his “key message” was that many veterans had committed suicide while suffering from mental illness in recent years.

“I am very concerned about the mental health of my former friends and colleagues at the time,” said Mr. Hebe. “That’s why the government, the nation, needs to put our arm around the veterans and tell them how proud we are of what they did.”

Boris Johnson will announce details of an additional £5 million to help military charities providing support on mental health issues for veterans with the aim of ensuring “no request from veterans for help is answered”.

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