§ Mr. BluntTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what evidence the Government have collated that Chechen fighters were involved in action against(a) US and (b) British forces in (i) Iraq and (ii) Afghanistan. [122750]
§ Mr. Rammell[holding answer 4 July 2003]: According to US military sources, US forces engaged a number of irregular fighters from the Middle East, 745W North Africa and Chechnya near Baghdad in April 2003. These sources were quoted in several media reports at the time.
A small number of Chechen fighters reportedly took part in fighting near Bagram, north of Kabul, and Mazar-e-Sharif. We cannot, however, confirm this.