Bosnia: Aircraft Incident (Hansard, 28 February 1994)

§ Lord Richard
My Lords, I beg leave to ask a Question of which I have given private notice, namely: whether the Government will make a statement on the shooting down of four Serbian military aircraft in Bosnia.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Viscount Cranborne)
My Lords, with your permission I would like to make a Statement on the incident this morning in which four aircraft were shot down by NATO aircraft. At half-past six local time six Galeb single seater air to ground attack aircraft were identified airborne over Bosnia. NATO Combat Air Patrol comprising two US F-16 aircraft went to intercept and investigate. A verbal warning was issued by the NATO aircraft but no response was received. At 6.48 a.m. local time NATO aircraft shot down one of the violating Serb aircraft. Five minutes later, at 6.53 a.m., three more of the violating Serb aircraft were shot down. The remaining two were seen exiting into Croatian airspace, at which point the engagement was terminated, in accordance with the NATO rules of engagement for enforcement of the no-fly zone. There were subsequent reports, though as yet unconfirmed, that the two aircraft were seen landing from the North at Banja Luka airport. It is thought that the aircraft had been bombing a Croatian ammunition factory near Novi Travnik.
The action was taken under the authority of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 781,786 and 816 which established the no-fly zone and authorised its enforcement.
I am sure that your Lordships will welcome this prompt and appropriate response by NATO to such a clear violation of United Nations resolutions.

§ Lord Richard
My Lords, I am obliged to the Minister for making what he described as a Statement but which I understood to be an Answer to a Private Notice Question.
Can the noble Viscount confirm unequivocally that the action that was taken was in accordance with United Nations resolutions? Can he tell us what the aircraft were doing immediately before they were shot down? Was specific authorisation given to the F-16s to take this action while they were in the air?
One hears, for example on "The World at One", that the Serbs have retaliated by bombing Tuzla. Can the Minister confirm whether that has happened? Can the Minister say what response, if any, there has been from the Russian Government to the action? As he will know, the Russian Government have an important role to play.
Finally, what effect do the Government believe this will have on the safety of British troops at present in Bosnia?

Viscount Cranborne
My Lords, I can confirm to the noble Lord, Lord Richard, that the action was fully in accordance with UN resolutions, and in particular United Nations Security Council Resolution 816. In 816 answer to the question which the noble Lord, Lord Richard, posed about authorisation, it may be helpful if I emphasise the command chain.
In the short interval after the aircraft were detected at 6.30 a.m. local time the following actions took place. At 6.35 a.m., in accordance with the rules of engagement, the F-16s warned the Galeb aircraft to land. That warning was ignored. At 6.48 a.m. the first aircraft was shot down. Between 6.35 and 6.48 the situation was reported to the commander of the Fifth Allied Tactical Air Force, whose headquarters are in Vicenza under the command of NATO commander CINCSOUTH. The authorisation was given by that officer in accordance with the rules of engagement drawn up in April 1993. We are satisfied that those rules of engagement have been observed.
I can now confirm that the Serbs have shelled Tuzla on a regular basis. However, it is not yet clear whether the shelling reported today is different from previous shelling and therefore a result of the action which I described to your Lordships.
We are not as yet aware of any Russian reaction to the events.
I turn now to the question of the safety of UNPROFOR troops, and in particular of British troops. As your Lordships will be well aware from previous Statements which my noble friend Lady Chalker and I have made, the safety of British troops is our paramount concern. So far we are satisfied that all appropriate actions have been taken to safeguard British troops, although of course we cannot guarantee their safety in so dangerous a situation.

§ Lord Mayhew
My Lords, is the noble Viscount aware that, on the basis of the information he has given us, the action appears to be fully justified? Perhaps we should express appreciation of the action of the F-16 pilots.
Can the Minister say a little more about the effect of the events on the aid convoys? Is any special decision being taken in connection with the aid convoys at present? While we can applaud the reaction to the bombing by the Serb aircraft, it is undoubtedly in some respects a matter of considerable anxiety as it raises the level of danger for the aid convoys and the United Nations peacekeepers. It is inevitable that we should ask when the Russians will express support for the NATO action. It is also disturbing that the Serbs should feel sufficiently confident to raise the level of aggression in this way.
Will the Minister comment on those points? Can he assure us that at the earliest opportunity the Government will give us an account of the Russian reaction?

Viscount Cranborne
My Lords, my noble friend has confirmed to me that aid convoys in Bosnian Serb areas have been suspended. However, the situation is under what is described as hour-by-hour review.
As I told the noble Lord, Lord Richard, there has as yet been no official reaction from the Russian Government as to whether they support the action. I am happy to give an assurance that, should your Lordships wish to be kept informed, Her Majesty's Government will be happy to do so.
817 As regards interpretation of the Serb aircraft action, it is not entirely clear whether the aircraft concerned were Bosnian Serb aircraft. That is something that we still have to find out. Your Lordships will no doubt be told as soon as we do so. At this early stage I leave it to your Lordships to judge what the implications of these events will be.

§ Lord Richard
My Lords, I am sorry to intervene, but if they were not Bosnian Serb aircraft, what on earth could they be— Serbian Serb aircraft?

Viscount Cranborne
My Lords, those are the two obvious possibilities.

§ Lord Stoddart of Swindon
My Lords, will the Minister confirm that this is the first time in its history that NATO has engaged in military action? Does he agree that it is unfortunate that that should happen in a civil war?
Secondly, what is the Government's opinion as to whether today's action will have an adverse effect on the peace process and the negotiations which are taking place? Thirdly, does he agree that the position of President Yeltsin will be further undermined and that great comfort will be given to his opponents, who may wish to involve Russia in the affairs of Bosnia far more than has so far been the case?

Viscount Cranborne
My Lords, I can confirm that so far as I am aware this is the first time that NATO has fired shots in anger. It is a great tribute to the deterrent effect of NATO that it has taken more than 40 years for this to happen.
As regards the effect on the peace process, the United Nations Security Council resolutions were passed to show that the United Nations means business. If there was no effective back-up force for those resolutions, they would carry very little meaning for the Serbs and the other combatants in this terrible conflict. If the noble Lord feels that merely passing a resolution is sufficient, I am afraid that for once he and I part company.
So far as concerns the position of President Yeltsin, the United Nations Security Council and the allies in NATO have welcomed the position of Russia in the lead-up to the declaration of a ceasefire around Sarajevo. That was helpful. As I said, so far there has been no official declaration from the Russian Government. We see no reason to suppose that the Russian Government have in any way changed their view.

§ Lord Dean of Beswick
My Lords, in view of the fact that we have carried out action which was obviously necessary but which may lead to a deterioration in the overall situation, would it not now be wise for the Government to withdraw the 7,000 redundancy notices which they issued to the Army so that we can keep those troops, as they may well be needed?

Viscount Cranborne
My Lords, your Lordships may think that the ingenuity of the noble Lord, Lord Dean, takes even him outside the scope of the Question. I merely comment that part of the reasons for the third tranche of Army redundancies announced last week was in order to make sure that the shape and structure of the 818 Army were consistent with the smaller Army that we have proposed under Options for Change. The noble Lord will also remember that two additions of 3,000 men to the Army have been consistent. with the assurances that I have given to your Lordships that we would review the situation with regard to manpower if it seemed necessary.

§ Lord Tordoff
My Lords, in view of the fact that the Russians supported the original resolution, it would be somewhat unfortunate if they were to change their minds at this stage.

Viscount Cranborne
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord. I can confirm that my right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary has discussed the matter with Moscow's special envoy in Yugoslavia, Envoy Vitaly Churkin, and that the action by the NATO fighters was taken under United Nations Security Council Resolution 816 which was supported by Russia.

§ Lord Williams of Elvel
My Lords, can the noble Viscount help us a little further on the purely military aspects of the affair? Is there any evidence that the warning from the F-16s was in fact heard and received by the Galebs? If an F-16 comes up behind you and warns you that it will shoot you down if you do not remove yourself from the no-fly zone, it is rather odd that you do not immediately remove yourself. Is there some special radio frequency along which such warnings are delivered? Is there some code which ensures that reception is acknowledged? How does the frequency work? Did it work properly in that case?

Viscount Cranborne
My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Williams, will be aware that the Bosnian Serbs, and indeed the Government of the rump of former Yugoslavia in Belgrade, are well aware of the terms of the UN Security Council Resolution 816 which imposes a no-fly zone. They are well aware that, if they break the provisions of that no-fly zone, some very unpleasant consequences are likely to follow. That has indeed happened; they were warned that it would happen. They violated Resolution 816, and the consequences are all too apparent.

§ Lord Monkswell
My Lords, bearing in mind the Russian membership of the Security Council, and the Russians' very close interest in what is happening in Bosnia, may we be assured that there are official lines of communication between NATO and Russia to advise the Russians on what is happening rather than their receiving reports through press agencies?

Viscount Cranborne
My Lords, yes.

§ Lord Shepherd
My Lords, will the Minister reply to the question of the noble Lord, Lord Williams of Elvel? Is there a recognised radio channel between fighter aircraft, on whichever side they may be? Therefore, if an American aircraft, as it may be in this case, wishes to communicate with a Bosnian aircraft, would there be a well-known frequency for communication?

Viscount Cranborne
My Lords, I can only repeat what I said to the noble Lord, Lord Williams. The terms of Security Council Resolution 816 are perfectly clear. They have been broadcast to everyone, both to the public and the governments concerned. They know perfectly well what the results of breaking that resolution are. We have seen those results today.

§ Lord Peyton of Yeovil
My Lords, does my noble friend agree that it is quite important, if one has a United Nations resolution which has very widespread support, that at the first moment at which serious and very grave consequences occur people should not wonder about the rectitude? It is very dangerous not to support the action; otherwise the authority of the United Nations really means nothing.

Viscount Cranborne
My Lords, as so often, I entirely agree with my noble friend's remarks.

§ Lord Hailsham of Saint Marylebone
My Lords, given that perhaps we cannot answer the question about radio link directly, must it not have been obvious on the basis of the original Statement to the three which were subsequently shot down that one of their number had been shot down and that they might expect the same if they did not comply?

Viscount Cranborne
My Lords, indeed. As is so often the case, I find it difficult to quarrel with my noble and learned friend's logic.