One Dutch soldier died and three others were wounded Friday when a car bomb exploded in the city of Tarin Kowt in the Afghan province of Uruzgan, according to dpa. Five Afghan children were also killed in the attack. The three wounded Dutch soldiers and a number of Afghans were taken to a hospital at the Dutch military basis near Tarin Kowt. Their condition was described as "stable," according to Dick Berlijn, Commander of the Armed Forces in Afghanistan. The attack took place late Friday morning in the centre of Tarin Kowt on a 2- to 3-kilometre distance from the Dutch army base. The car containing the bomb drove from a side road into a Dutch YPR-pantser vehicle. The Dutch victims were inside the car, the killed Afghan children were standing nearby. Berlijn and Minister of Defence Eimert van Middelkoop spoke of a "cowardly attack." The 20-year-old killed Dutchman was a first class soldier of the 42nd battallion of the so-called "Limburgse Jagers," which the three wounded are also part of. The Dutch Ministry of Defence will not publish the victim's identity and residence unless requested so by his family. The car bomb attack was the third on the Dutch forces in Afghanistan, and today's victim was the second Dutch soldier to die in military action Afghanistan. In April, 21-year-old corporal Cor Strik died in the province of Helmand following a side-road bomb. Five other Dutch soldiers died in Afghanistan following accidents and one suicide. At the time of Friday's press conference in The Hague organized by the Ministry of Defence, the family had not yet been informed by the Dutch government. Reports about the incident by international news agencies forced the Dutch government to organize a press conference first. Minister of Defence Van Middelkoop said he was "deeply affected" by the event and immediately briefed the government. Van Middelkoop, who gave his condolences to the bereaved family, said the government reacted to the news "with shock." Van Middelkoop also said the attack demonstrates "the kind of enemy we are dealing with ... they want to make as many victims as possible." The minister said the incident did not shake Holland's determination "to help the Afghan people."
