The Ministry of Defense is having another investigation carried out into a mortar accident in Mali in 2016, in which two Dutch soldiers were killed. An external committee has been set up for this purpose, let the ministry know on Friday. The committee investigates whether individual military personnel acted negligently. With the new research, Defense hopes to “get as many open questions answered as possible”.
Relatives and the House of Representatives have been asking for a new investigation for some time, with the aim of finding out who is to blame for the accident. There were several reports about the accident, some of which later turned out to be unreliable. Several authorities knew that overdue maintenance had caused the accident, but did not disclose this. The Public Prosecution Service previously did not want to prosecute individual employees.
The deceased soldiers were in Mali for the UN mission Minusma. Its purpose was to push back jihad fighters and nomad groups who had revolted against the regime. Two soldiers were killed and a third was seriously injured when a grenade exploded prematurely. It later turned out that the grenade had never been checked, and that an ammunition technician had previously advised not to use the stock to which the grenade belonged. The Dutch Safety Board already established in 2017 that Defense had failed “seriously”, after which the then Minister of Defense Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and the commander of the armed forces Ton Middendorp resigned.