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Written question asked by Bob Russell (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 7 June 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 11 June 2007. It was answered by Derek Twigg (Labour) on Tuesday, 19 June 2007 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) suicides and (b) attempted suicides there have been of members of HM armed forces (i) while serving in and (ii) after returning from service in (A) Iraq and (B) Afghanistan.
Answer

The Ministry of Defence has centrally compiled and verified records of coroner-confirmed suicides or open verdict deaths among UK regular Service personnel up to 31 December 2006.

Table: Number of suicides of UK armed forces
Theatre of operation Dates On deployment Post- deployment
Iraq 18 January 2003 to 31 December 2006 ¹5 16
Afghanistan 7 October 2001 to 31 December 2006 1 —
Afghanistan 15 October 2005 to 31 December 2006 — ²1
¹ One suicide in 2005 involved a reservist serving in Iraq. ² Follow-up records of personnel who were deployed to Afghanistan are not currently available for the period before 15 October 2005.

The figures provided do not include any violent or unnatural deaths that have not yet been fully investigated by the coroner.Centralised records for acts of deliberate self-harm (including attempted suicide) for the UK armed forces are not available.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
461 c1763W; 142293
Session
2006-07
Subjects
Iraq Peacekeeping operations Suicide Afghanistan
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk