Written question asked by Nick Harvey (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 26 October 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 30 October 2006. It was answered by Adam Ingram (Labour) on Wednesday, 8 November 2006 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Afghanistan/Iraq

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many attacks there were on British troops in (a) Afghanistan and (b) Iraq in each of the last three years; what the date was of each incident; what type of incident each was; what weapons were used in each; and how many insurgents were involved in each incident.

Answer: There have been some 340 military contacts between UK forces and the enemy in Helmand province between 1 April 2006 and 31 October 2006. Data prior to this date and data on military contacts against UK forces outside of Helmand province are not held centrally. There have been some 3,200 military contacts between UK forces and enemy forces in Iraq between 1 November 2003 and 31 October 2006 in MND(SE). This figure excludes military contacts against UK forces outside of MND(SE), over this period, as this data is not held centrally. Information has not been provided by type or date of each incident or the types of weapons used as disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the security of our armed forces. Further, due to the nature of these incidents, it is not possible to state exactly how many insurgents may have been involved in each contact.

Secondary information