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Written question asked by Marquess of Lothian (Conservative) on Tuesday, 14 October 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 16 October 2008. It was answered by Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour) on Monday, 17 November 2008 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many attacks there were by insurgents against British armed forces in Helmand province in Afghanistan in (a) 2006-07 and (b) 2007-08.
Answer

The number of direct engagements (regardless of the instigator) involving the international security assistance force (ISAF) and insurgents in Helmand province for the last three years are as follows:

Number
2006 736
2007 2,213
2008 (as of 15 October) 1,475

ISAF forces operating in Helmand come from a number of different nations, which often operate closely alongside each other. These forces also operate very closely alongside Afghan Army and police units. Without undertaking a detailed assessment of each engagement, it is not possible precisely to define in every case whether an attack was aimed at UK forces, at our ISAF partners, or against Afghan units. Data is therefore collected on the number of incidents involving ISAF forces in Helmand without attempting to identify the nationality of the forces actually being attacked. The environment also makes it extremely difficult precisely to distinguish between incidents initiated by insurgent forces and those initiated by ISAF.This data is based on information derived from a number of sources and can only be an estimate, not least because of the difficulties in ensuring a consistent interpretation of the basis for collating statistics in a complex fast-moving multinational operational environment.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
483 c133W;483 c132W; 227974
Session
2007-08
Subjects
Peacekeeping operations Afghanistan
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk