The Dutch police trainers who are scheduled to leave for the Afghan province of Kunduz next week are on a Taliban death list.

National daily de Volkskrant published an interview on Wednesday with Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahed, who told the paper that: “Dutch trainers in Kunduz are our enemy. We want to kill them.” Mujahed said the Taliban might attempt to “Infiltrate someone in a Dutch training course to take them out''. He said the Taliban would also use suicide bombers and IEDs to attack the Dutch trainers.

De Volkskrant writes that local Taliban commanders in Kunduz refused to be interviewed, referring the paper to their spokesperson to discuss the movement’s strategy in Kunduz. The Taliban have attacked and killed NATO police trainers on a number of occasions in the past.

In a separate development, the Netherlands is to sign an agreement with Germany about cooperation in strengthening the civil police and judicial sectors in Kunduz. Deputy Development Cooperation Minister Ben Knapen and his German counterpart Dirk Niebel will sign the agreement in Berlin on Thursday. Germany has been tasked with providing security in Kunduz, including the Dutch police training mission.

(gsh/imm)

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