Roadside Bomb in Afghanistan Kills Son of Dutch Defense Chief

KABUL, April 18 -- A roadside bomb attack on a patrol of Dutch soldiers killed the son of the Netherlands' top military officer Friday; the Taliban said it had targeted the young officer.

Lt. Dennis van Uhm, 23, was one of two Dutch soldiers killed in the attack in restive Uruzgan province, spokesman Lt. Gen. Freek Meulman said. Two soldiers were injured, one critically.

Van Uhm's father, Gen. Peter van Uhm, was installed Thursday as the Netherlands' defense chief.

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende called Van Uhm's death "an unprecedented tragedy."

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said the group knew Van Uhm's movements in advance and planted the mine that killed him.

But Balkenende said, "Our information is that there is no indication of any link between this cowardly deed and the fact that it was the son of the defense chief."

The Dutch parliament debated for months before supporting the government's decision to send troops to Uruzgan province, a Taliban stronghold.

The mission gained grudging public support because troops were to help reconstruct roads, schools and hospitals as well as fight.

Last year, the government again agonized over whether to extend the mission by two years and called on NATO allies to do more to shoulder the burden in the south. Balkenende agreed last November to prolong the mission only after several other countries, including France and Australia, pledged to contribute more troops.

In the small Dutch town of Ermelo, 50 miles east of Amsterdam, where both slain soldiers had been stationed, local authorities lowered flags to half-staff and opened a condolence register at the town hall for residents to sign.