Dutch soldier shot dead in Iraq

15 August 2004

AMSTERDAM — A Dutch soldier was killed in a shooting incident in Iraq on Saturday, the Dutch defence ministry has confirmed. Five other Dutch soldiers were seriously injured.

The military policeman, 29, died when the vehicle he was travelling in was attacked near Ar Rumaythah, north of As Samawah, the ministry statement said. He was the second Dutch fatality in Iraq.

A second military police officer and four members of the Army were seriously injured but their conditions have been described as stable. Another soldier was lightly injured.

The US military sent a Black Hawk helicopter to help with the evacuation of the injured shortly after the attack.

The relatives of the personnel involved in the attack have been informed, the Dutch Defence Ministry said.

Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende expressed shock at the death but said the Netherlands would not be driven out of Iraq.

“This was not an attack by the Iraqi people but by individuals who are trying to sabotage the rebuilding of Iraq by their destructive actions,” he said in a statement.

The Netherlands has 1,276 military personnel serving with the international stabilisation force in various places in southern Iraq. Just over 600 are based in As Samawah and 185 in Ar Rumaythah.

Dutch sergeant Dave Steensma, 36, was killed in a hand grenade attack in As Samawah in May.

There were two other fatalities among coalition forces on Sunday.

A Ukrainian soldier was killed in a land mine explosion southeast of Baghdad and a US soldier was killed when an improvised bomb exploded in northern Baghdad, the military announced.

Subject: Dutch news, Dutch troops in Iraq