The defence ministry has concealed the fact that Dutch troops in Afghanistan killed 60 Taliban militants in a single battle, a radio programme claims after studying secret US military documents released by whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.

The clashes took place, according to the Argos radio programme, in October 2007. The defence ministry has never revealed how many Taliban militants were killed in the clashes. Instead, it has always spoken of "possible victims". The programme alleges the documents show that 60 Taliban fighters died in the clashes with the Dutch troops and were registered as casualties.

The programme also accuses the ministry of failing to report the gravity of the clashes and the precise course of events to parliament. The Socialist Party, the programme says, intends to raise questions about the alleged cover-up during a session of parliament.

The programme bases its allegations on conclusions reached by journalist Martin Broek after going through all 77,000 secret documents recently posted on the internet by WikiLeaks. The journalist says the documents contain extensive and specific information about the battle, including the time it happened and the number of casualties it claimed.

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