HC Deb 18 October 1991 vol 196 cc301-2W
Mr. Flynn

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what assistance has been afforded to the Kuwaiti authorities to decontaminate the desert from the radioactive debris arising from the use of anti-tank armour-piercing shells made with depleted uranium casing;

(2) whether Her Majesty's armed forces used any depleted uranium anti-tank shells during Operation Granby.

Mr. Archie Hamilton

No such assistance has been requested by the Kuwait authorities. As I said on 28 March at column566, only a small proportion of the ammunition used by British forces in the Gulf contained depleted uranium (all of this ammunition comprised anti-tank rounds). The Ministry of Defence has, of course, provided assistance in the clearance of unexploded ordnance in the aftermath of the Gulf conflict and commercial mine clearance operations continue in Kuwait.

Mr. Flynn

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether during Operation Granby in Kuwait and Iraq any British tanks were involved in burying alive Iraqi soldiers in trenches in a similar manner to the burial of living soldiers admitted by the United States forces.

Mr. Archie Hamilton

No.

Mr. Flynn

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Hunting BL755 cluster bombs were dropped by the Royal Air Force during hostilities in Operation Granby; and whether he has made any assessments of the effect on Iraqi military forces of their use.

Mr. Alan Clark

Cluster bombs were used against unhardened Iraqi military installations such as radar and SAM sites. Most of these attacks were from medium level using CBU-87 cluster bombs. Only eight BL755 bombs were used; the performance of this system is being assessed as part of our detailed assessment of the operation.