§ Mr. Menzies CampbellTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence on how many occasions(a) coalition aircraft and (b) UK aircraft patrolling the southern no-fly zone in Iraq have released ordnance in response to violations from (i) 20 December 1998 to 17 May 2000 and (ii) 17 May to date indicating in percentage terms over said periods (1) the nature of the threat, (2) the category of the target attacked and (3) the tonnage of ordnance released on each category of target in proportion to the overall tonnage released in said periods; and if he will make a statement. [136593]
§ Mr. Hoon[holding answer 7 November 2000]: For the period 20 December 1998 to 17 May 2000 I refer the right hon. and learned Gentleman to the answer I gave him on 6 June 2000, Official Report, column 170W.
Saddam Hussein continues to try to kill coalition aircrew conducting legitimate humanitarian patrols. Coalition patrols respond to these attacks only in self-defence. If Saddam stopped trying to kill our aircrew we would not have to react in this way.
Between 18 May and 31 October 2000 coalition aircraft were directly threatened by the Iraqi air defence forces in the southern no-fly zone on 55 occasions, and responded in self-defence on 16 occasions against Iraqi military facilities posing a direct threat to coalition forces. UK aircraft released ordnance on eight occasions. Details of the threats broken down by percentage, are as follows:
Percentage (i) Nature of threat by percentage Aircraft Violations of southern no-fly zone 4 Anti-Aircraft Artillery/Surface to Air Missile Firings 91 Hostile Electronic Activity 5 (ii) Category of Target attacked by percentage Integrated Air Defence System 100 (iii) Tonnage of Weapons Released by percentage Integrated Ground Based Air Defence System 100
§ Mr. Menzies CampbellTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what tonnage of ordnance has been released by(a) coalition and (b) UK aircraft in operations to maintain the southern no-fly zone in Iraq from 17 May to date; and if he will make a statement. [136594]
§ Mr. Hoon[holding answer 7 November 2000]: Between 18 May and 31 October 2000 coalition aircraft patrolling the southern no-fly zone released some 60 tonnes of ordnance. The UK element of this figure was some 11 per cent. These weapons were released in self-defence in response to Iraqi threats to coalition aircraft.