Bowing to US demands, the Dutch government announced Friday it will take part in US-led air strikes in Syria against the Islamic State group, extending its current air support mission over Iraq. "In order to make the fight against ISIS in Iraq more efficient, it has been decided to carry out air strikes against ISIS in eastern Syria," the foreign and defence ministries said in a statement.
Late last year in the wake of the November Paris attacks, the Dutch government received a request from allies the United States and France to broaden its campaign against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group - also known by the acronym ISIS. "The recent terrorist attacks in Paris, Istanbul and Jakarta clearly show that ISIS is a danger for our security and our way of life," Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told journalists Friday.
"We are going to deploy the F-16s above Syria, in particular to stop the pipeline leading from Syria into Iraq," he said, referring to the movements of IS fighters. The Netherlands is already participating in the coalition by carrying out air strikes in Iraq with four F-16 aircraft specialising in close air support of ground operations by Iraqi forces. But it had insisted in the past that it would not extend the air strikes over Syria without a UN mandate. But Rutte said Friday: "I do believe it is important as a coalition that we are active in the whole area."