Dutch Leaving Afghanistan

Dutch troops to leave Afghanistan

29 July 2010 THE HAGUE — The Dutch troop deployment in Afghanistan, often held up as a model for other peace missions, ends after four years on Sunday amid concerns about the void it will leave.

"We offer the majority of the population relatively safe living conditions and advancements in health care, education and trade," chief of defence, General Peter van Uhm, said of his troops' legacy in the southern Uruzgan province.

"We have achieved tangible results that the Netherlands can be proud of," he told a news conference on Wednesday.

Around 1,950 Dutch troops are deployed in Afghanistan, mainly in Uruzgan where opium production is high and the Taliban very active, under the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

NATO had asked the Netherlands to extend the mission, which started in 2006 and has cost the lives of 24 soldiers, by a year to August 2011.

This sparked a political row that led to government collapsing in February and the end of the Dutch deployment. Continued