Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has undertaken an assessment of the potential risks to UK armed forces personnel deployed to Mali; and if he will make a statement.

Deploying to MINUSMA does not come without risk. However, our forces are world class, and we have provided them with training, equipment and preparation to succeed in a complex operating environment. The Department has taken steps to mitigate the risks.

We take the assessment of risk extremely seriously and UK troop exposure to risk will be monitored and reviewed routinely to mitigate any threats to their safety.

The initial objective of the first rotation will be to understand the operating environment in which the LRRG(M) will operate.