09/07/2014
Dutch forces tackle Mali threat
Dakar - Dutch troops have joined a UN peacekeeping mission in Mali to meet a growing security threat from the region to the Netherlands, and Europe as a whole that #8220;softer#8221; approaches can no longer contain, the Dutch foreign minister said. The Netherlands has deployed some 450 Special Forces troops, intelligence operatives and attack helicopters to a UN force rolling out across northern Mali, where al Qaeda-linked Islamists occupied swathes of the country before being driven back last year by French troops. Although Dutch forces do not have an offensive mandate, the deployment marks a shift towards security issues in Africa for the Netherlands...
