A small sample of Afghan civilians have shown "astonishing" levels of uranium in their urine, an independent scientist says. He said they had the same symptoms as some veterans of the 1991 Gulf war.

But he found no trace of the depleted uranium (DU) some scientists believe is
implicated in Gulf War syndrome. Other researchers suggest new types of radioactive weapons may have been used in Afghanistan.

To test its hypothesis that some form of uranium weapon had been used, the UMRC sent urine specimens from 17 Afghans for analysis at an independent UK laboratory. It says: "Without exception, every person donating urine specimens tested positive for uranium internal contamination.