The Netherlands on Sunday began its phased withdrawal of its troops out of Afghanistan, the Dutch Foreign Ministry in the Hague said. Dutch soldiers handed over their Kamp Holland military base in the south of the country, where they had been responsible for the Uruzgan region, to a joint force of US and Australian troops, dpa reported. According to the Foreign Ministry, a total of 24 Dutch soldiers have been killed during the four-year mission, and a further 140 wounded. Around 1,950 soldiers served in Afghanistan.
