 |
The Netherlands intends to dispatch a new and sizeable force to Afghanistan next year. Government sources told Radio Netherlands that plans are currently being drafted for the establishment of a NATO-led ‘Provincial Reconstruction Team’ of up to a thousand troops in the south east of the country. It would be the largest Dutch troop deployment abroad since the Netherlands ended its mission in Iraq in March of this year.
New mission conceivable
Dutch Defence Minister Henk Kamp has indeed confirmed that the Netherlands is considering a new peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan in 2006. On Sunday, he told national television it is “conceivable” that the Netherlands will contribute to a NATO mission in the south of Afghanistan. He added that the Netherlands hopes to make it a joint operation with British and Canadian forces.
At present, the Dutch contribution to the NATO-led ‘International Security Assistance Force’ (ISAF) consists of four F-16 fighter aircraft and a small Provincial Reconstruction Team of 150 personnel in the northern province of Baghlan. In addition, a battalion from the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps will depart for Afghanistan by the end of next month. They are to be based near the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif, in order to assist in securing a stable environment in the run-up to national elections due to be held in September.
Operation Enduring Freedom
Apart from its contribution to ISAF, the Netherlands is also participating in the US-led ‘Operation Enduring Freedom’ in which coalition troops are combatting remnants of the former Taliban regime, al-Qaeda supporters and militias who have so far refused to co-operate with the government in Kabul.
Some 185 Dutch army and marine corps commandos are presently assisting US troops in an unspecified area in the south east of the country. As is customary, little has been said about the activities of these Dutch Special Operations Forces, other than that they are engaged in reconnaissance and intelligence gathering missions.
Still in an early phase
A new Dutch peacekeeping operation in the south of Afghanistan - possibly in co-operation with the UK, Canada and other countries - would only take place once the situation in the area has been stabilised, if responsibility is transferred to NATO and if the Afghan government asks for assistance, as well. But, while planning is still in an early phase, experts agree that a large mission in Afghanistan’s south could involve more dangers than the deployment in Iraq, where Dutch troops were based in the relatively quiet southern province of al-Muthanna.
Tags: Afghanistan, ISAF, Mazar-e-Sharif, NATO, Operation Enduring Freedom, Provincial Reconstruction Team