Dutch to join US-led airstrikes against IS in Syria

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte explains the cabinet decision to extend its campaign to extend Dutch air strikes from Iraq into Eastern Syria during a press conference after a cabinet meeting in The Hague, Netherlands, Friday, Jan. 29, 2016.

A year after it first targeted the extremist group in Iraq, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said a squadron of F-16 fighter jets in the region would soon join the U.S.-led coalition in Syria.

Justice minister Ard van Steur has admitted the decision may mean the Netherlands is more vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

The F-16s “can really make an impact”, Rutte insisted, saying the planes will be “more effectively deployed… particularly hitting training centres and other facilities” in Syria which are helping IS fighters in Iraq. “I do believe it is important as a coalition that we are active in the whole area”.

In Syria, the Netherlands had confined its role to providing diplomatic help and humanitarian aid, arguing that there is no clear global mandate for military intervention. ‘We are convinced that only a consistent approach to bring back stability in Iraq and Syria, ‘ said Foreign Minister Bert Koenders added in the statement.

British MPs voted to extend airstrikes to Syria in the wake of the attacks in Paris in November.

In addition, the Netherlands will “intensify” its support for the Iraqi army and Kurdish forces in Iraq Kurdistan. It will fund moderate, armed Syrian opposition groups and assist the reconstruction of schools and hospitals, the statement said.

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

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