§ The Earl of Sandwichasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer tabled on 23 October [HL936], whether they have made an estimate of civilian casualties in Afghanistan as an indirect result of aerial bombardment since 211WA 7 October; and whether they can confirm a report that up to 250 such casualties occurred in three villages at Shalwalikot near Kandahar. [HL1708]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)We cannot know for sure how many civilian casualties may have been caused indirectly by the coalition's air campaign over Afghanistan. While we investigate all such claims carefully, most cannot be verified, and I have no information about allegations of civilian casualties at Shalwalikot.
Departmental Net Administration Costs 1997–98 Outturn* 1998–99 Outturn* 1999–2000 Outturn 2000–01 Provisional Outturn Within the Departmental Expenditure Limit £236 million £249 million £262 million £258 million From the Employment Opportunities Fund £1 million £3 million £3 million £4 million *Departmental resource accounts were first produced for 1999–2000. Figures prior to that have been converted from cash to provide an indicative set of figures on a comparable resource basis.