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Afghanistan: UK Forces

No, my Lords, absolutely not. Publishing the rules of engagement would just play into the hands of the opposition. It would be very helpful for the opposition to know exactly the rules of engagement under which our forces are operating at any time. Rules of engagement are set by Governments. Different Governments operating within the coalition framework operate under different rules of engagement. That has been the practice for many decades, and is not a particular issue relating to these operations. Despite not being able to disclose to the House the detail of the rules of engagement, I reassure noble Lords that they are absolutely robust enough for the job. In all the issues that have been raised regarding operations in Iraq, there have not been issues relating to firefights. We do not regard any concerns about rules of engagement to be relevant to our operations at present in Afghanistan.