Battlefield casualties in Afghanistan have increased by more than 200% in comparison to accidental injury and disease victims in the past seven months, The Herald can reveal.

The number of British soldiers evacuated by air after being wounded in action in Helmand since April now equals the total number treated for accidental injury and illness combined, reflecting the increasing ferocity of the fighting in southern Afghanistan.

Figures obtained by The Herald show that 111 men were flown back to the UK for specialist care after being hit by Taliban fire, while a further 59 were brought home as a result of road or other accidents and 52 for disease.

Even in Iraq, where withdrawal of troops from Basra city has reduced attacks on British forces, 88 wounded soldiers had to be withdrawn compared with 109 for non-battle injuries and disease.

Military sources said yesterday that the figures demonstrated the intensity of the Afghan combat, where 72 soldiers have been killed since June 2006.

The overall figures for UK forces in Helmand show that 256 men have been wounded in action since 2006, compared with 611 with "non-battle" medical problems.

That ratio of one man wounded to almost three incapacitated for non-battle reasons has now equalised.

In Iraq, the ratio between battlefield to other casualties from January last year until September this year was 238 to 1950 - a difference of more than seven illness and accident victims to every soldier injured in action.

According to official Ministry of Defence figures, 805 service personnel had been wounded in Afghanistan or Iraq by the end of September, of whom 282 were categorised as seriously or very seriously injured. Although the MoD refuses to disclose details of severe injuries, citing "patient confidentiality", a total of 30 soldiers have lost legs, five had had arms amputated, two have lost the use of all four limbs and 10 have lost eyes since 2003.

These casualties again reflect the intensity of combat in Afghanistan, where 14 men have lost one or both legs and one an arm in 18 months of fighting against the Taliban. This compares with 16 who have lost legs and four an arm in four and a half years in Iraq.

Two of the double-amputees are members of the Black Watch, now 3rd battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland. They were crippled by suicide bombers in 2004 when they were supporting a US Marine assault on the insurgent-held Iraqi city of Falluja.

A defence medical services' source said: "Improvements in body-armour and battlefield treatment techniques mean that we operate on a rule-of-thumb of about nine or 10 wounded to every fatality.

"The downside is that protection of the central body area still leaves limbs exposed. That, combined with the blast effects of roadside bombs, means many of the most serious injuries are now to arms and legs.

"It's indicative of the intensity of the fighting in Helmand that battlefield casualties are now on a par with accident and disease victims. We would normally expect one man wounded in action to every seven or eight guys down with sickness or non-battle injuries,"

An MoD spokesman said: "In the period April 1 until September 30, 2007, the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine at Selly Oak in Birmingham admitted 197 UK service patients from Iraq and 222 UK service patients from Afghanistan to its own facilities or nearby hospitals."