§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of civilian casualties in Iraq caused by military action since the conclusion of Operation Desert Fox. [68352]
§ Mr. George RobertsonWe believe that the only military action since the conclusion of Operation Desert Fox which could have caused civilian casualties was an incident on 25 January. Coalition aircraft patrolling the Iraqi Southern No-Fly-Zone in accordance with their humanitarian mission encountered four Iraqi MIGs who were attempting to draw them into a pre-arranged Surface to Air Missile (SAM) trap and were fired at by Iraqi anti-aircraft artillery. US aircraft responded by attacking a SAM site and related air defence and communications systems north of Basra. The US has confirmed that a rocket propelled bomb went astray and landed in a residential district several kilometres from its target. It could have caused civilian casualties, but the US is still investigating and cannot confirm. I deeply regret any civilian casualties but must stress that the US acted in self-defence responding to a serious and immediate threat to the safety of coalition aircraft.