By IRNA,
Berlin : Most Dutch are opposed to sending troops to Afghanistan as their government is pondering plans for a new mission in that war-stricken country, press reports cited a survey saying Wednesday.
Some 54 percent of Dutch voters reject plans by the center-right government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte to set up a new training mission for Afghan security forces , only months after the previous government collapsed over its involvement there and withdrew its forces out of the country. Only 38 percent support Rutte’s decision to introduce a draft bill in the Dutch parliament next month for such a mission.
The Netherlands was the first European country to pull its troops out of Afghanistan in August.
Around 2000 Dutch soldiers were deployed in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan since 2006.
Some 28 Dutch troops were killed and 140 wounded during the Afghanistan mission.