A British servicewoman has given birth in Afghanistan having not realised she was pregnant.
Britian's Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement that mother and baby are both in a stable condition following the birth of the boy in Camp Bastion in Helmand province.
The woman, a Royal Artillery gunner, only learned she was about to give birth after complaining of stomach pains, according to UK media reports.
The child was conceived before the woman arrived in Afghanistan in March, the BBC reports.
The MoD said it is not military policy to allow servicewomen to deploy on operations if they are pregnant.
"In this instance the MoD was unaware of her pregnancy."
A specialist paediatric team from a hospital in Oxford in south-east England is to fly to Afghanistan in the next few days "in order to provide appropriate care for mother and baby on the flight home", the statement added.
The baby was born five weeks prematurely, days after the Nato base came under attack from the Taliban.