HL Deb 27 October 2003 vol 654 c6WA
Lord Hylton

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What progress has been made by international and state authorities in Bosnia-Herzegovina towards eliminating illegal and unauthorized weapons. [HL4811]

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean

Since 1998 the NATO-led Stabilisation Force (SFOR) and the local armed forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) have run Operation Harvest, aimed at collecting illegal small arms and light weapons (SALW) in Bosnia.

In 2002 it collected 8,394 small arms (rifles, pistols and revolvers); 2,298,967 rounds of ammunition of less than 20 millimetres; 19,435 rounds of ammunition between 20 and 76 millimetres; 2,486 rounds of ammunition of more than 76 millimetres; 38,199 hand grenades, 4,156 mines; 8,163 kilograms of explosives, and 48,090 other items (mortars, mortar rounds, rifle grenades, and hand-made ordnance). UK forces have played a central role in the operation.