Dutch troops will almost certainly be withdrawn from Afghanistan this year following the collapse of the coalition government in The Hague.
The Telegraph, 20 February 2010
The government fell because of a dispute between its main partners over how long its soldiers should stay in the war.
A withdrawal, expected to begin in August and be completed by December, would come as a major blow to Nato efforts to battle the Taliban and reassure Afghans that the West will stay and protect them.
For several years thousands of Dutch troops have been based in Uruzgan Province, to the north of Helmand where British soldiers are engaged in deadly fighting against insurgents.
A withdrawal of 2000 Dutch soldiers – whose operation has won the respect of Nato commanders - could put more pressure on overstretched British soldiers in southern Afghanistan, who may be called on to plug the gap which would be left by a Dutch withdrawal.
Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, leader of the centre-right Christian Democrats, announced on Saturday that the coalition government he has led for nearly three years could not continue. Mr Balkenende had wanted to extend the deployment of Dutch troops beyond an August deadline, but the Labour Party, his junior partner in the coalition, was opposed.
