§ Mr. MaplesTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many sorties have been undertaken by British aircraft over Iraq since 1 January. [90142]
§ Mr. George RobertsonRAF aircraft undertook some 1,600 operational sorties in the period 1 January to 30 June 1999 in pursuit of their mission to prevent Saddam's air forces from persecuting the Kurds and Shia Muslims of northern and southern Iraq. The figure includes sorties by aircraft such as VC 10 tankers which, although directly involved in this mission, did not enter Iraqi airspace.