A Dutch soldier was killed and five were seriously wounded in Iraq, but the government said yesterday it had no intention of withdrawing its troops amid escalating tension in the south of the country.
The defense ministry said in a statement the shooting late on Saturday evening probably began with an attack on a military vehicle in the southern town of Ar Rumaythah, where some of the around 1,300 Dutch troops stationed in Iraq are based.
The death of the 29-year-old member of the military police was the second death of a Dutch soldier in Iraq, a ministry spokesman said. Another was killed in May -- the first Dutch soldier to die in conflict since 1995.
Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende expressed sympathy for the victims' families, but said the Dutch mission must continue.
"We will not give in to terror. We give our full support to our soldiers who will continue with the reconstruction, together with many other countries who are working for the future of Iraq and together with the Iraqi people," he said in a statement.
"This was not an attack by the Iraqi people but an attack by individuals who are trying to frustrate the reconstruction of Iraq through their destructive action."
Dutch public opinion is divided on the mission, but Balkenende's centre-right government won broad parliamentary support in June to keep Dutch troops in Iraq until next March.
Since July last year, the Dutch have been based at the mainly Shiite southern town of Samawa, which until recently was peaceful compared to other parts of Iraq.
Defense Minister Henk Kamp was quoted by ANP as saying tension had mounted across the country since fighting in the holy city of Najaf between US and Iraqi forces and militiamen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
"The situation in the whole of Iraq is getting more dangerous, including in southern Iraq and therefore the area where the Dutch soldiers are based," Kamp said.
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