To ask Her Majesty’s Government from which sources they derive their claim that there are 70,000 Syrian ground troops available to fight ISIL; what assessment they have made of whether that figure is correct; and what is their assessment of the statement by General Sir Richard Shirreff that that force would be incapable of liberating a city of 350,000, such as Raqqa.
Answered on
8 December 2015
I refer the noble Lord to the answer given by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister, in the House of Commons on 1 December 2015 to Question 17826 and have nothing further to add.
Answered by
Ministry of Defence