The Dutch Army's Apache attack helicopters have arrived at an air base in the southern city of Kandahar ahead of their deployment to Tirin Kot, capital of volatile Uruzgan province, where around 1,200 extra Dutch are due in the coming weeks. Two-hundred-and-forty Australian troops will soon be deployed to Afghanistan as part of the Dutch-led international mission. The helicopter's initial mission will be to cover deployment convoys to Tirin Kot and eventually to Deh Rawood district, says Lieutenant Colonel Coos Duinhof, commander of the helicopter wing, on the tarmac of Kandahar base.The Dutch Army's Apache attack helicopters will be a reassuring presence for its troops in southern Afghanistan even if they are powerless against the main threat: homemade bombs and car bombs. Later they will be supporting patrols across the difficult mountainous terrain in the province, where Taliban insurgents have yet to be fully pursued by coalition forces and the Afghan government is all but absent.