Son of Dutch military chief killed in Afghanistan

The son of the new chief of the Dutch military and another Dutch soldier serving with Nato-led forces were killed when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Afghanistan yesterday. Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for the blast, which came at a time of rising violence following a traditional winter lull in fighting.

The Dutch Defence Ministry said in a statement there were no indications the attack was specifically targeted at the 23-year-old son of chief of joint staffs Peter van Uhm, who took over command of the Dutch military on Thursday.

"The contrast with yesterday's festivities, when command was handed over to General Van Uhm, could not have been bigger," Defence Minister Eimert van Middelkoop told a news conference in the Hague.

Apart from Dennis van Uhm, two other soldiers were wounded in the attack north of the Dutch base in the southern province of Uruzgan, one of them critically. The blast came as the troops were returning to their base from a major operation that ended on Thursday.

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said the Dutch armed forces would not be swayed from their task. "Despite our suffering and the pain of today, we have to be strong and stay on the current course," he told a news conference.

The Dutch government decided last year to extend the mission of its troops in southern Afghanistan until 2010.

They have been participating in the Nato-led operation since 2006. At the moment 1,650 are based in Afghanistan. Yesterday's deaths bring the total number of Dutch soldiers killed in Afghanistan to 16.

Deputy chief of joint staffs Freek Meulman said improvised explosive devices (IEDs) also wounded 11 Dutch soldiers two weeks ago. "In Uruzgan the threat of IEDs is almost continuously present," he told reporters.

Earlier yesterday, three Afghan staff of a foreign security firm were killed in a similar attack in Logar province to the south of the capital Kabul, a provincial police official said.

More than 11,000 people have been killed in Afghanistan in the last two years, the deadliest period since US-led and Afghan forces toppled the Taliban in 2001.

Among them are 336 foreign troops killed in action since 2006.