Written question asked by Richard Younger-Ross (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 9 July 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 1 September 2003. It was answered by Adam Ingram (Labour) on Monday, 1 September 2003 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Ministry of Defence

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Iraqi children he estimates have been killed while dismantling Iraqi munitions in the last three months. - Inc figures.

Answer: Richard Younger-Ross: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Iraqi children he estimates have been killed while dismantling Iraqi munitions in the last three months. [125701] Mr. Ingram: There is no means of knowing how many Iraqi children have been killed while dismantling Iraq's munitions. Coalition forces have, however, made significant efforts to educate local populations about the dangers of unexploded munitions. The United Kingdom and other coalition Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams in the UK's area of responsibility have completed over 1,000 disposal tasks and destroyed over 100,000 individual munitions. The Theatre Mine Risk Education (MRE) plan has been developed with the support of UNICEF and the ICRC. A poster and leaflet campaign has been carried out; head teachers in Basrah have been briefed; and military teams are delivering Mine/UXO awareness training to primary and secondary schools daily, using material approved by the ICRC.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 125701; 409 c906W
Session: 2002-03
Subjects: Children Ammunition Casualties Bomb disposal Iraq Weapons Iraq conflict
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk