The Dutch government has decided to send six Apache attack helicopters and 100 soldiers to Iraq, Radio Netherlands reported on Friday night.

The helicopters and the soldiers will be based at Tallil airfield of Iraq, where the Dutch Chinook transport helicopters are stationed, said the radio.

Dutch Defense Minister Henk Kamp told the Dutch parliament on Friday that the Apaches were deployed at the request of the commander of the Dutch troops in Iraq as security concerns have risen recently in face of mortar and rocket grenade attacks.

The minister said the extra personnel and equipment are to remain in Iraq until July 15, when the Dutch peacekeeping mission is scheduled to end.

The Dutch Cabinet must soon decide whether it will extend the peacekeeping mission beyond the transfer of power to the Iraqis, he added.

The Netherlands has so far deployed over 1200 troops in Iraq as part of US-led mission in Iraq. On May 10, a Dutch sergeant was killed in a hand grenade attack in the Iraqi city As Samawah.

Source: Xinhua