Dutch government signals extended role in Islamic State offensive

The Dutch government on Friday agreed to extend its role in the US-led coalition against Islamic State to include the bombing of targets in Syria, it said in a statement.

A Dutch squadron of six F-16 aircraft is already stationed in the region, but has been limited to striking Islamic State positions in Iraq.

The aircraft will now also target sites in eastern Syria, it said.

“The progress that has been made in Iraq won’t stand if IS remains in a position to support the fight in Iraq from eastern Syria,” said defence minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.

The Netherlands is also considering sending more military equipment to support Iraqi fighters battling the militants.

Paris attacks

Extending the operation was made possible after the Dutch Labour Party, the junior partner in the coalition government, said this week it was open to the idea, creating a parliamentary majority.

The attacks in Paris in November, in which Islamic State claimed responsibility for 130 deaths, had already led France and Britain to increase their bombing campaigns in the region.

Foreign military interventions are especially sensitive in the Netherlands, which led a disastrous peacekeeping mission in Bosnia in 1995, when 8,000 Muslim men and boys were slaughtered by Bosnian Serb forces.

A previous Dutch government collapsed in 2010 over participation in military operations against the Taliban in Afghanistan, where 2,000 troops were active.