The Dutch will extend their military mission to Afghanistan until 2010, Dutch news agency ANP reported on Friday, according to DPA. Referring to sources close to the Dutch government, ANP said the Dutch cabinet had also decided on Friday to reduce the number of troops from 1,650 to 1,350 after August 2008. The Dutch have been active in the southern province of Uruzghan since August 2006 as part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Originally the mission was due to end on August 1, 2008. Under the terms of the extended mission, the Dutch are due to transfer the leadership of the ISAF mission in Uruzghan to another country on August 1, 2010. Four months later all Dutch troops are due to return to the Netherlands. The decision to extend the mission came several weeks after the Dutch received confirmation that the Australians, French, Slovaks, Hungarians and Czech would also send small military missions to the province of Uruzghan where the Dutch troops are stationed. A total of 12 Dutch soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since the mission began in August 2006. Public support for the ISAF mission in Afghanistan has recently dropped to less than 30 per cent, according to most polls.
