Task Force Uruzgan

The TFU was under the command of Colonel Kees Matthijssen and consisted of a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), a battlegroup and an air detachment.

During June 2007 a Taliban offensive and a Dutch counterattack proved to be the heaviest fighting in Uruzgan province since ISAF extended its Area of Responsibility to the south of Afghanistan.

In December 2009, the relatives of 21 Dutch military who died on foreign missions were presented with official government documents honoring the deceased.

At a ceremony in The Hague Defence Minister Van Middelkoop (ChristenUnie) personally handed the documents to their relatives, who also received a commemorative sculpture.

There was a proposal that Americans would continue the Dutch military's work in collaboration with Australia and Singapore, two other ISAF-members that also have troops stationed in Uruzgan.

[6][7][8][9] Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi congratulated the citizens and government of the Netherlands for this independent decision.

Map of Afghanistan's Uruzgan Province stressing on two of its six districts ( Deh Rawood and Tarinkot )
Dutch LSV operating in Task Force Uruzgan, 2006
Timo Smeehuijzen, socializing with civilians in Tarinkot on June 15, 2007, about 90 minutes before a deadly militant attack on his convoy. [ 2 ]