Written question asked by Annabelle Ewing (Scottish National Party) on Wednesday, 23 February 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 10 March 2005. It was answered by Adam Ingram (Labour) on Thursday, 10 March 2005 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Ministry of Defence

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the number of Iraqi casualties in the UK sector since the end of the war; and what percentage this represents of the total estimated number of Iraqi casualties since the conflict began.

Answer: Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of Iraqi casualties in the UK sector since the end of the war; and what percentage this represents of the total estimated number of Iraqi casualties since the conflict began. [218551] Mr. Ingram: None. The United Kingdom armed forces do not maintain records which would enable a definitive estimate of the total number of civilian casualties arising from the Iraq conflict to be calculated. UK military reporting is limited to the UK area of operations. But even within the UK area of operations reporting is limited to what troops see on the ground. So military reporting is incomplete and cannot provide the basis of civilian casualty estimates. This is why we do not publish figures.

Secondary information