Junior justice minister to replace Dutch defense minister

Published October 04, 2017

The Netherlands' junior justice minister is to become the country's new defense minister after the resignation of Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, who quit following a highly critical report into the deaths of two Dutch peacekeepers during a training exercise in 2016.

The government announced Wednesday that Klaas Dijkhoff will lead the defense ministry. The appointment comes as talks to form a new four-party ruling coalition continue following elections in March.

Hennis-Plasschaert and the country's military commander, Gen. Tom Middendorp, resigned late Tuesday after an independent report criticized the defense ministry for "serious shortcomings" in its care for troops sent on a peacekeeping mission to Mali.

The report said that the two soldiers were killed instantly when a mortar shell exploded prematurely during a training exercise in Mali.

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