§ Major-General SEELYasked the Under - Secretary of State for the Colonies if he can state the approximate number of casualties in killed and wounded sustained by our forces in the recent operations against the Somali Mullah, and how these casualties compare with those sustained in previous operations against the Mullah?
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§ Lieut.-Colonel AMERYThe recent operations against the Mullah have not involved any casualties among the European officers and other ranks engaged, and the only casualties of which information has been received at the Colonial Office are two: one native African soldier died of wounds, and one wounded. It is not possible to give, with any degree of accuracy, the number of casualties which have occurred in the course of military operations against the Dervishes extending over a period of twenty years, but it may be stated, for purposes of comparison, that in the operations at Shimber Berris in November, 1914. and February, 1915, which were of a minor character, and involved the destruction of one of the smaller of the Mullah's fortified posts only, our casualties amounted to one British officer killed and five wounded, and 43 casualties among the Indian and native rank and file.