Dutch participation in the war in Afghanistan

The Dutch involvement in the war in Afghanistan began in 2001. The Dutch armed forces were involved in Operation Enduring Freedom and they were first stationed in Kabul as part of the ISAF , then followed a mission in northern Afghanistan and, from 2006, a mission in the south.

commitment

By November 16, 2010, 25 soldiers of the Dutch armed forces had died in Afghanistan.

Some military operations with Dutch involvement are:

• Operation Medusa September 2 to September 17, 2006
• Operation Kryptonite in early February through February 12, 2007
• Battle of Chora June 15 to June 19, 2007
• Operation Spin Ghar October 25, 2007 to?
• Operation Bor Barakai October 16-26 , 2007

history

After the United Nations Security Council passed resolution 1386 on December 20, 2001 , a mandate limited to six months to set up an International Security Assistance Force ( ISAF ) in Afghanistan, around 200 soldiers from the Dutch army , including some soldiers from Dutch special forces, took part the Corps Commandotroepen , from January 2002 on the ISAF mission in Kabul and the surrounding area. This also meant that from February 10 to August 11, 2003, the Netherlands and Germany were in charge of the ISAF through the 1st German-Dutch Corps .

On October 1, 2002, the Netherlands-led operation of the European Participating Air Forces (EPAF), a fighter fighter association made up of Danish, Dutch and Norwegian F-16s , which participated in Operation Enduring Freedom from Kyrgyzstan , began. Six F-16s and 450 Dutch nationals took part. The mission lasted until October 2003. In September 2004 another five F-16s were deployed to secure the election of the Afghan President. From March 2004 to March 2005, the Dutch Air Force made four AH-64D Apache attack helicopters available to ISAF in Kabul. Then eight F-16s were stationed in Kabul until September 2006.

Towards the end of 2004, the Netherlands set up a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in northern Afghanistan, in Pol-e Chomri in the Baglan province . The PRT was handed over to Hungary in 2006.

From April 2005 to April 2006 around 250 Dutch soldiers and four CH-47 transport helicopters plus ground crew were stationed in Kandahar Province .

In February 2006, the Balkenende II cabinet decided to move an additional 1,400 soldiers to Uruzgan Province in addition to the 600 soldiers stationed so far . The first soldiers, this so-called Task Force Uruzgan , arrived in the province in March and the others in August 2006. Dutch special forces were once again involved in this mission. Large military camps with around 1200 Dutch soldiers were Kamp Holland near Tarin Kut and Camp Hadrian for 200 soldiers near Dihrawud . There were several other small camps. The Dutch have three self-propelled howitzer 2000 in use in Afghanistan. In addition to the Dutch, more than a thousand Australian soldiers and the Afghan National Army are stationed in the province with a large number of soldiers . At the airport of Kandahar six were F-16 fighter aircraft of the Dutch Air Force stationed.

The South Regional Command had rotating leadership between Great Britain , Canada and the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, the six-month leadership was from November 1, 2006 (Major-General Ton van Loon) and from November 1, 2008 (Major-General Mart de Kruif ).

On August 1, 2006, the Netherlands took over the command of all soldiers stationed in the province of Uruzgan under ISAF mandate and they operated a PRT in Kamp Holland, the so-called PRT Uruzgan. About 120 Dutch civilians and military personnel, as well as Australians and Americans, were assigned to this PRT. The approach referred to by the Dutch as the oil spot, ink blot or ink spot strategy was also used by other countries, such as the British . Some places are pacified and then the "safe" area is expanded. In reality, the Dutch experienced fierce fighting in 2006 and 2007, such as the Battle of Chora in June 2007 .

“We're not here to fight the Taliban. We're here to make the Taliban irrelevant. ””

“We are not here to fight the Taliban. We are here to make the Taliban irrelevant. "

- Colonel Hans van Griensven, Commander of Task Force Uruzgan : The New York Times: Quote from a meeting with staff, April 6, 2007.

On March 31, 2009, the International Afghanistan Conference took place in The Hague , at which Barack Obama's new US strategy was discussed and further financial aid for Afghanistan was sought.

In February 2010, the Dutch government under Jan Peter Balkenende broke up when the Social Democratic Partij van de Arbeid, which ruled the Balkenende IV cabinet , spoke out against an extension of the ISAF mandate in the Uruzgan province and announced its withdrawal from the government on February 20, 2010 . On August 1, 2010, the Netherlands relinquished leadership responsibility in the province of Uruzgan and withdrew the Dutch soldiers from the province.

In January 2011, the Dutch government under Mark Rutte announced that it would leave its four F-16s stationed in Afghanistan in action and begin a police mission. 225 police trainers are to be deployed in Kabul, Kunduz Province and later in Bamiyan Province . The government is demanding an assurance from Afghanistan that the Dutch police will not be used in Afghan army operations.

Civil construction

On January 26, 2010, the Dutch hosted the first water shura in Kotwal (north of Tarin Kut) , where water management in the region was discussed.

The Netherlands is the third largest donor to the World Bank- based Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF). The Netherlands is also a major donor to the Law and Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan (LOFTA), which is used to raise funds for the Afghan National Police .

costs

The costs for the Dutch operation in the province of Uruzgan from 2006 to 2010 amount to 1.4 billion euros .

Web links

• government.nl: Press reports from the Dutch government on Afghanistan
• Dutch Ministry of Defense to Afghanistan
• netherlandsmission.org: The Netherlands in Afghanistan

Individual evidence

1. ↑ icasualties.org: Netherlands
2. ↑ korpscommandotroepen.nl: Afghanistan ( Memento of the original from February 5, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} centcom.mil: Netherlands ( Memento of the original from January 10, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ globalsecurity.org: Manas International Airport, Ganci Air Base, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
5. ↑ BBC News: More Dutch troops for Afghanistan
6. ↑ doubletongued.org: oil spot strategy
7. ^ The New York Times: Dutch Soldiers Stress Restraint in Afghanistan, April 6, 2007
8. ↑ Deutsche Welle: Conference against Fatigue in Afghanistan
9. ↑ Federal Foreign Office: Final declaration of the Afghanistan conference in The Hague on March 31, 2009 (PDF; 17 kB)
10. ↑ Government.nl: Police training mission in Afghanistan  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
11. ↑ europeonline-magazine.eu: The Hague: Operation in Afghanistan will not be military
12. ↑ Radio Netherland Worldwide: US set to take over Dutch ISAF mission  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.