§ Mr. KeetchTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the United Kingdom armed forces from the(a) Royal Navy, (b) RAF and (c) Army are assigned to operations in and around Afghanistan; what percentage of coalition forces in Afghanistan this represents; and if he will make a statement. [57517]
§ Mr. Ingram[holding answer 21 May 2002]: As at 20 May 2002 there are 3,100 Royal Navy and Royal Marines personnel, 630 RAF personnel and 1,550 Army personnel operating in and around Afghanistan. Our forces in Afghanistan currently represent around 20 per cent. of the coalition forces operating there.
The United Kingdom attaches great importance to the task of helping to break the link between Afghanistan and terrorism for good, and we are making a substantial contribution to coalition operations in Afghanistan, both through warfighting and security assistance duties. 368W Numbers in theatre vary according to the operational tempo, and so the figures here merely represent a snapshot in time.