Dutch special forces in Mali tackle changing threat: minister

Dutch troops have joined a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali to meet a growing security threat from the region to the Netherlands, and Europe as a whole that "softer" approaches can no longer contain, the Dutch foreign minister said.
The Netherlands has deployed some 450 Special Forces troops, intelligence operatives and attack helicopters to a U.N. force rolling out across northern Mali, where al Qaeda-linked Islamists occupied swathes of the country before being driven back last year by French troops.
Although Dutch forces do not have an offensive mandate, the deployment marks a shift towards security issues in Africa for the Netherlands and their task - gathering intelligence - is new to U.N. peacekeeping missions that have traditionally avoided the art of spying.
Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans said there was a growing sense of urgency that radical groups operating from the Atlantic through to the Persian Gulf were not just posing a threat to weak governments in the region but also targeting Europe.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/09/us-mali-security-dutch-idUSKBN0FE1YF20140709