Dutch troops in Afghanistan were forced to fight when they were attacked at the army base in Kandahar which they have taken over temporarily from Canadian troops, the Dutch newspaper, Trouw, reported Wednesday. On Monday evening some 100 enemy fighters attacked the Martello camp with light weapons and heavy mortars. The camp was attacked again on Tuesday morning. But this was said to have been a "minor action."
There were no fatalities among the Dutch troops, said the paper. The Dutch Defense Ministry said an undisclosed number of attackers were killed. Another national newspaper, De Telegraaf, said 10 Taliban soldiers were killed in the attacks. Some 100 Dutch troops have temporarily occupied the camp in the neighboring province of Kandahar because the Canadians and their NATO allies have their hands full with the large-scale operation against Taliban strongholds. Safeguarding the camp is also in the interest of the Netherlands, since Martello is situated on the supply route of the two Dutch camps in Uruzgan, said the paper. |