The police again discovered a hand grenade on Bijlmerplein in Amsterdam Zuidoost. The explosive was found around 3:00 a.m. on Thursday, in the same spot where another grenade was found last week, according to AT5.
Defense's explosive removal department went to collect the object and took it away for further investigation, NU.nl reports. They concluded that it was indeed a hand grenade, and then dismantled the explosive.
Hundreds of Dutch soldiers will be living in hotels around Zeist in the coming months because the conditions of the sleeping barracks at their home base, Huis ter Heide, are so bad that they can no longer be used, newspaper AD reports.
The police found what they believe is a hand grenade at Bijlmerplein in Amsterdam during the early hours of Thursday morning. They responded to the scene around 4:00 a.m. after a report of shots being fired, the Amsterdam police said on Twitter.
On Bijlmerplein they found no injured person, but did find a possible grenade on the street. Defense's explosive disposal team is at the scene, NU.nl reports. The police are waiting for the team to finish its work before they can start a trace evidence investigation.
An explosive was found at a business premises on Lemelerbergweg in Amsterdam Zuidoost during the early hours of Wednesday morning. The police can not yet say what type of explosive was involved, NU.nl reports.
Police officers responded to a report of an explosive on the street at around 3:00 a.m. At the scene the officers indeed found an explosive. Defense's explosive disposal service was called in to make sure the explosive wasn't going to blow up so that forensic investigators could do a trace evidence investigation at the scene.
A Dutch soldier died in hospital on Sunday after becoming unwell during a Corps Commando training exercise in a swimming pool in Roosendaal last week. The soldier involved was a corporal. He died of complications caused by the incident, newspaper AD reports.
The accident happened at swimming pool De Stok in Roosendaal during the early hours of Friday morning. Exactly what happened is not yet clear. Colleagues saw the soldier becoming unwell in the water and called the emergency services. He was rushed to hospital.
Soldiers from the Dutch Commandos are demanding a medical investigation into the effects too high concentrations of toxic gasses at shooting range Markiezaat in Bergen op Zoom had on their health. They're also holding Defense responsible for any permanent health damage they suffered by using the shooting range, AD reports.
Train traffic from Schiphol to Amersfoort was halted for a short time on Wednesday after an explosive was found near the tracks in Laren. Defense's explosives disposal team cleared it away, Het Parool reports.
The explosive experts believe it is an old explosive, likely dating from World War II. According to the police, there is no danger for local residents or the environment.
The explosive was found near Doctor Albert Schweitzerweg by people working on the railway.
Train traffic restarted around 2:30 p.m., about an hour after it was halted.
Defense made mistakes in acquiring winter clothing for soldiers who will participate in a NATO mission in Norway next month. As a result, the soldiers are forced to buy their own clothing for the mission in a terrain where temperatures can drop to -20 degrees. The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, is furious, NU.nl reports.
The Public Prosecution Service will prosecute five former soldiers of the Airmobile Brigade at the Oranje barracks in Schaarsbergen for sexually abusing, harassing and humiliating three of their colleagues, the Telegraaf reports.
The Prosecutor refused to confirm this to NOS, because not all those involved have been informed yet.
The primary school teachers behind trade union PO in Actie is calling for a national strike involving all government departments on October 2nd. They want police officers, nurses, Defense personnel and teachers to strike together in The Hague, they wrote in an open letter, NOS reports.
The police found homemade explosives while searching a house on Söderblomplaats in Rotterdam on Thursday. The house was searched as part of an ongoing investigation, the police said on Twitter.
The explosives consisted of dangerous fireworks, bottles and rods of iron, according to NOS. A police spokesperson told NOS that there are currently no indications that the explosives are linked to terrorism.
The police did not say whether any arrests were made. Defense's explosive removal team removed the explosives and will detonate them elsewhere.
A German sea mine was detonated off the coast of Zeeland on Thursday morning. The mine was discovered in July, during installation of a power cable for the Borssele wind farm, RTL Nieuws reports.
The explosive weighed nearly 700 kilograms. The navy branch of Defense's Explosives Ordnance Disposal service detonated the mine some 1,500 kilometers from the coast near Vlissingnen from navy mine-hunting vessel Zr. MS. Urk.
Shipping traffic was halted while the mine was detonated.
Sixteen sports bags full of drugs were discovered in a material container on the terrain of the Van Braam Houckgeest barracks in Doorn on Tuesday. It involved dozens of kilograms of what seems to be cocaine, the Koninklijke Marechausssee, a policing force that works as part of the Dutch military, said on Twitter.
The drugs were sent to the Netherlands Forensic Institution for testing.
The Ministry of Defense temporarily made it impossible to install sports- and fitness apps on Defense phones, Defense Minister Ank Bijleveld told parliament on Sunday after it was revealed that personal data can easily be obtained from the Polar fitness app, ANP reports.
"Private data of military personnel, civilian staff and in particular intelligence services are out on the streets, at home and abroad", Bijleveld said. "The ministry repeatedly reminded staff of the specific vulnerability of such apps."
On Tuesday the police busted a drug network in Brunssum, Limburg. Four men were arrested for trading drugs on the dark web, and sending drugs all across the world through the regular postal service, the Public Prosecutor announced on Friday.
This investigation was launched after PostNL found drugs in packages during a drug check. According to the Prosecutor, the suspects had clients all over the world and sent drugs, mostly ecstasy, to their clients in normal postal packages and envelopes.
Shipping and flight traffic is halted in the south of Limburg on Friday, because Defense's explosives ordnance disposal service will be detonating an aircraft bomb dating from World War II in Meerssen, ANP reports.
The bomb weighs 500 pounds and was found during excavation work along the Juliana Canal in mid-May. The shipping traffic in the Juliana Canal between Maastricht and Born will be halted on Friday. No planes may fly across this part of south Limburg on Friday.
A former commander denies ever getting the order not to take Moluccan hijackers prisoner, but to kill them, in liberating a hijacked train at De Punt and occupied primary school Bovensmilde in 1977. "No authority came to me with such an order", the former commander, who coordinated the liberation operation at Bovensmilde, said to the Telegraaf.
The Ministry of Defense acquired a few dozen teeny-tiny drones. These Black Hornets will be used by reconnaissance units of the Dutch Armed Forces and Marine Corps, ANP reports.
A Black Hornet is a miniscule helicopter that weighs only 18 grams. It has a rotor span of 12 centimeters and can fly for 25 minutes, taking photos or recording video while it does so. Soldiers can use them to explore a battlefield at a safe distance.
Ministry of Defense employees and people living around Defense ammunition sites were in unnecessary danger for years because the safety of ammunition depots was not in order, the Volkskrant reports based on internal documents from Defense and the Inspectorate of Social Affairs and Employment.
The newspaper got hold of these documents through the Freedom of Information Act.
Anti-terrorism unit DSI performed a major drill at Rotterdam subway station Blaak during the early hours of Thursday morning. They practiced a scenario involving a terrorist attack happening on King's Day, NOS reports.
Dozens of extras decked out in orange clothing took part in the drill, to make the exercise as realistic as possible. Multiple volunteers played injured people. During the exercise, members of the DSI had to disable the "terrorists" and evacuate the wounded, according to the broadcaster. Dozens of DSI members took part in the drill.
Items that look like hand grenades were found on Magrietstraat in Nieuwegein on Wednesday morning. The police evacuated the street as a precaution, NU.nl reports.
The possible explosives were found around 7:30 a.m. According to RTV Utrecht, one grenade was left in front of a home. An Explosive Ordnance Disposal team from Defense recovered and removed the items. The police can not yet say whether they are real grenades, only that they "have the appearance of grenades".
The municipality of Amsterdam learned important lessons from a large anti-terrorism drill held in the Dutch capital in November. One lesson is that the cooperation between the police and Defense must be improved, interim Amsterdam mayor Jozias van Aartsen said in a letter to the city council on Tuesday, AT5 reports.
Two weeks ago a soldier in a Dutch tank accidentally fired a missile during training while three other Dutch soldiers were still in the field, the Ministry of Defense reported on Thursday. No one was injured.
The incident happened with a CV90 tank during training at the NATO terrain in Bergen-Hohne in Germany on March 22nd. The tank, equipped with a 35 millimeter canon, fired a missile during the penultimate exercise. At the time there were three soldiers in the area, within firing range. They took cover and escaped the incident unharmed.
Dutch soldiers are again allowed to wear their uniforms in public. Minister Ank Bijleveld of Defense lifted the ban that was implemented in 2014 due to an increased threat of attacks on soldiers by jihadists, according to a Defense memorandum that will be published on Monday, ANP reports.
"The army has the task of protecting our kingdom and its allies. So it is also important that you are recognizable and approachable", the Minister said. According to her, the ban is being lifted at the express wish of Dutch soldiers.
