Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Baroness Sugg on 2 November (HL Deb, col 497), what assessment they have made reports of the use of white phosphorus against the population of the Nagorno-Karabakh region by the government of Azerbaijan; and if substantiated, what steps they intend to take in response.

The UK Government is aware of reports that white phosphorus has been used, by both parties, although we have not made an assessment of these allegations. Her Majesty's Government strongly supports the appropriate national and international accountability mechanisms to investigate and report on allegations of violations/breaches of international law.