The Armed Forces have marked their first year in nearly five decades without a soldier, sailor or airman being killed on operations.

Ministry of Defence figures show that 2016 was the first year without the death of a serviceman on operations since 1968.

The end of Britain’s fighting in Afghanistan, a political unwillingness to put troops into combat missions and a current focus on instead training local forces away from the front line have contributed to a lower chance of casualties, military sources said.

But one former military leader said he was concerned there was also now a “nervousness” among politicians about using the Armed Forces.