Jim Cunningham – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2016-03-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the total number of military personnel supporting operations against Daesh in each month since December 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Penny Mordaunt

The UK is one of over 60 nations contributing to US-led Operation Inherent Resolve, the overarching anti-Daesh global coalition. This global coalition, which includes the US, Arab, European, Asian and Australasian partners, is working with the Government of Iraq and regional neigbours to defeat Daesh in both Iraq and Syria.

We cannot comment on the size of contributions made by other nations, but the UK plays an important role both in terms of numbers of personnel supporting the mission and the unique capabilities we contribute.

The UK contribution in terms of numbers of personnel has remained relatively constant since December 2015 at around 2,000, of which around 1,000 are deployed across the region.