AMSTERDAM, April 19: Almost half the population of the Netherlands opposes the Dutch mission in Afghanistan, according to a poll conducted after the son of the new chief of the Dutch military was killed there on Friday.

Dutch troops have been participating in the Nato-led operation in Afghanistan since 2006. The Dutch government decided last year to extend the mission in southern Afghanistan until 2010 after a heated debate and under pressure from allies.

The survey by pollster Maurice de Hond, released late on Friday, showed that 49 per cent of the Dutch were against the mission, up from 44 per cent about six months ago. Support for Dutch participation shrank to 46 per cent from 51 per cent.

Forty-nine per cent of the respondents wanted the government to pull out its troops from Afghanistan this summer, the poll showed. Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said on Friday after the deaths of 23-year-old Dennis van Uhm and another Dutch soldier, killed when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb, that the country’s armed forces would not be swayed from their task.

Respondents in the latest poll were asked about their feelings after the deaths of the two soldiers on Friday.

A total of 16 Dutch soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan and 1,650 troops are based there.—Reuters