Two Dutch soldiers who were killed in southern Afghanistan this weekend probably died after being shot at by fellow soldiers
in friendly fire
incidents, the defence ministry said.
Earlier the ministry said that 20-year-old soldier Wesley Schol and 22-year-old corporal Aldert Poortema were killed by opposing militant forces.
"I feel terrible having to tell you that it is highly probable that they died as a result of friendly fire," General Dick Berlijn said in a statement.
He explained that the incidents occurred near the Dutch base at Deh Rawod in Uruzgan province at night during bad weather.
A third Dutch soldier was badly wounded and had to have both legs amputated but survived. In the same location two Afghan
soldiers, who were out of uniform, were also killed by the Dutch troops.
The army is investigating all of the incidents, Berlijn said. In all 14 Dutch soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan, either accidentally or in combat.
At present, 1,665 Dutch soldiers are deployed in Uruzgan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which has around 37,000 troops in Afghanistan.
In November the Dutch government decided to prolong its Afghanistan deployment by two years to December 2010.