Netherlands In Afghanistan

As a NATO country, The Netherlands has contributed troops to the Afghan conflict for many years beginning with its support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in 2002. It ended its miltary contributions in June 2021.

Early Years of Support. A medical detachment was deployed from May to July 2022. During 2002 and 2003 the Dutch deployed aerial assets to support OEF.

Special Forces. In April 2005 a Dutch special forces group deployed to southern Afghanistan. This task force consisted of members of the Commando Corps as well as special forces teams of the Netherlands Marine Corps. The group was initially deployed to Kandahar province. The core missions were reconnaissance and intelligence gathering. The SF group was supported by four CH-47 Chinook helicopters.

2006 - 2010. The Netherlands began deploying troops on a major scale in 2006 as part of OEF. For several years it was a leading NATO nation in Uruzgan province. The Dutch led one of the Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRT) in the southern part of the country.

Resolute Support Mission. One major effort of the country, in later years of the conflict, was deploying troops to northern Afghanistan as part of Regional Command North (RC North) and then Train, Advise, and Assist Command North (TAAC-N).

Departure from Afghanistan. At the end of June 2021, the last Dutch military personnel left Afghanistan; ending almost 20 years of Dutch military presence in that country. For 20 years the Netherlands, along with other allies, worked with the new Afghan government, the local population, Afghan National Police, and Afghan National Army to promote stability, security, and the rule of law.

Reports About The Netherlands in Afghanistan

March 2023. Between Wish and Reality: Evaluation of the Dutch Contribution to Resolute Support, Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PDF, 70 pages.
https://english.iob-evaluatie.nl/results/resolute-support

Autumn 2019. "The Netherland's Lessons", Parameters, U.S. Army War College. Martinj Kitzen, an associate professor of war studies at the Netherlands Defence Academy, writes about the lessons the Netherland's military has learned from its military involvement in the Afghan conflict. While the country's military has learned the importance of population centric warfare and counterinsurgeny he believes these lessons will be forgotten in the future. (14 pages, PDF).
https://ssi.armywarcollege.edu/pubs/Parameters/Issues/Autumn_2019/7_Kitzen.pdf

2000. The Netherlands and Afghanistan: Dutch Policies and Interventions with regard to the Civil War in Afghanistan, by Luc van de Goor and Mathijs van Leeuwen, Conflict Policy Research Project (CPRP), Netherlands Institute of International Relations, November 2000, PDF, 111 pages.
https://www.clingendael.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/20001100_cru_paper_vandegoor.pdf

News Articles about The Netherlands in Afghanistan

August 1, 2010, "Dutch troops end their mission in Afghanistan", Reuters. The Netherlands began pulling its 2,000 troops out of Afghanistan. The Dutch had been a major contributer to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) since the beginning of the NATO involvement in the Afghan conflict. The Netherlands was the lead nation in the southern province of Uruzgan where it had 1,400 troops. There were about 500 troops located at ISAF headquarters in Kabul and around the country.

References

Dutch Contribution to Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, Ministry of Defence.
https://english.defensie.nl/topics/historical-missions/mission-overview/2001/operation-enduring-freedom/dutch-contribution

Task Force Uruzgan - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Task_Force_Uruzgan