The backlog of inquests has increased already by a third in three months, and there are outstanding inquests on almost 100 troops who were killed on the front line.

The families of those killed are having to wait between 9 months and a year for even “straightforward” inquests.

Ministry of Defence figures place the operational deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001 at 377. 97 of these inquests are open or about to start.

With fatalities rising steeply in Operation Panther’s Claw, the waiting line is expected to get even longer.

As a result, the Ministry of Defence is expanding its dedicated inquests unit to cope with the rise in cases.

On Thursday, it was found that inadequate training in the use of night goggles and the absence of infrared vehicle lights contributed to the deaths of 2 soldiers in 2007.

The inquests are revealing a lot of information about equipment shortages, training failures and “friendly fire” incidents.