Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any British military personnel have been deployed to (a) Northern Iraq, (b) Iraqi Kurdistan and (c) Northern Syria since June 2014.

As a member of the US coalition, the UK is committed to countering ISIL in Iraq and Syria. British personnel have been providing logistical, liaison and surveillance support in Iraq and will continue to do so. From 27 September 2014, following the parliamentary vote, the RAF began flying strike missions over Iraq. We have also recently sent a small team to provide short term training to Kurdish forces. These troops are not deployed in a ground combat role.

Additionally, as part of our preparations for a potential humanitarian airlift from the Sinjar Mountains in August, we deployed military personnel to Erbil. These troops were recovered to Cyprus when it became clear that the operation would not go ahead.