Saturday 20 Dec 2008: Three Danish soldiers and one from the Netherlands were killed in separate incidents in Afghanistan, losing their lives just as the commitment of some countries to the fight in Afghanistan begins to wane.

In Copenhagen, the army said the three Danes were killed and a compatriot badly injured when their armored vehicle drove over a bomb or a land mine in Helmand province - the most dangerous part of Afghanistan.

“Today we lost three Danish soldiers in a tragic way,” said Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. “It is the biggest single loss for the Danish engagement in southern Afghanistan.”

Denmark has about 700 troops in the NATO force in Afghanistan. Twenty-one have been killed since Denmark joined the US-led coalition in Afghanistan in 2002.

In the Netherlands, General Peter van Uhm said 24-year-old Sgt. Mark Weijdt was killed Friday when he stepped on an explosive device during a firefight with the Taliban in the southern Afghan province of Uruzgan.

“It is terrible news that casts a dark shadow over Christmas,” said Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.

Dutch troops are scheduled to leave Afghanistan in 2010. But Balkenende would not rule out extending the mission if US President-elect Barack Obama asks for help in the fight against the Taliban.