Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department made of the extent of likely collateral damage from airstrikes in Yemen on 11 January 2024.

As my right hon. friend the Prime Minister made clear in his statement to the House on 15 January (Column 577), particular care was taken to minimise any risk of civilian casualties in planning these strikes. To that end, a full and thorough analysis was undertaken prior to approval of the targets and any such risk was further mitigated by the decision to conduct the strikes at night. To date, we have seen no evidence to indicate that either of the RAF strikes, at Bani and Abbs, caused civilian casualties.