It is Ministry of Defence policy not to comment on specific targets for reasons of operational security. As stated by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence (Michael Fallon) on 13 October 2014 (Official Report, column 9WS), military action in Iraq is part of the Government's comprehensive strategy, working in consultation with our allies in the wider coalition, to tackle ISIL.

We have not collated the cost of the UK Forces' programme of training Iraqi Armed Forces. This is because the costs of military operations are compiled in terms of the net additional costs incurred, not in terms of the individual tasks associated with those operations.

This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

However, we have identified the Service personnel who formed the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear teams involved in the operation to destroy Iraqi chemical weapons and there is no record of any of these personnel having made claims relating to exposure to chemical weapons.

There are currently around 20 UK Armed Forces Personnel performing various non-combat roles in Northern Iraq. The majority of this number deployed before 26 September 2014.

The UK has a small Defence section working in the British Embassy in Baghdad. This permanent presence is currently supplemented by around 20 personnel acting in support of operations against ISIL terrorists. These personnel are performing a range of roles including: supporting humanitarian operations, providing training to Kurdish forces and supporting coalition planning activities. The UK currently has no major military assets based in Iraq.

The UK currently has eight Tornado GR4 aircraft assigned to strike operations in Iraq. As of 8 October, there were 133 personnel deployed to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus to support these missions.

UK forces were deployed to Northern Iraq in 1991 in support of Operation Safe Haven. These forces included:

Twelve Chinook helicopters based at Diyarbakir Air Base in Turkey and
at its peak, approximately, 4,000 UK service personnel in Turkey and Northern Iraq.

3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines was deployed. In addition to helicopter support, three RAF C-130 aircraft were also deployed. The last Coalition land forces related to this operation withdrew from Northern Iraq on 16 July 1991.

As a member of the US coalition, the UK is committed to countering ISIL in Iraq and Syria. British personnel have been providing logistical, liaison and surveillance support in Iraq and will continue to do so. From 27 September 2014, following the parliamentary vote, the RAF began flying strike missions over Iraq. We have also recently sent a small team to provide short term training to Kurdish forces. These troops are not deployed in a ground combat role.

Additionally, as part of our preparations for a potential humanitarian airlift from the Sinjar Mountains in August, we deployed military personnel to Erbil. These troops were recovered to Cyprus when it became clear that the operation would not go ahead.

There have been no prosecutions of members of the armed forces for rape or sexual assault conducted in Iraq since 2003 or Afghanistan since 2001. A prosecution would not be held in theatre, provided the case could be heard in the United Kingdom at a later stage.

Our policy remains that no service personnel under the age of 18 are deployed on operations which would result in them becoming engaged in, or exposed to hostilities. Of those soldiers who have sadly lost their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq, our records show that 166 were under 18 years old at the point when they joined the Army. This figure represents 38% of the total number who have lost their lives in the period up to 23 October 2012.