LONDON, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Women could assume combat roles in the British military by 2016, the U.K. secretary of defense said Friday.
Defense Secretary Michael Fallon commented on a 29-page Defense Ministry report, issued earlier in December, which said a current ban on women serving in close combat roles called for additional research regarding the physical demands of the duties. He told the British Broadcasting Corp. Radio 4 that roles in the military "should be determined by ability and not gender," adding he intends to "open up combat roles to women" in 2016.