To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) uniformed armed forces personnel, (b) civilian support workers and (c) contractors were employed in security work in Afghanistan in each of the last 24 months.

The Ministry of Defence keeps the number of armed forces and civilian personnel deployed to Afghanistan under constant review. Civil servants deploy to Afghanistan to support the armed forces but they are not directly involved in security operations.

The force levels over the last two years are as follows:

The Department does not directly contract with private military security companies in Afghanistan.