Dutch army halts live-fire training as wildfire risk surges

The Royal Netherlands Army has temporarily halted training exercises involving explosives and open flames across several regions due to increased wildfire risk, the Dutch Ministry of Defence has said.

The suspension applies to parts of Gelderland, Utrecht and South Limburg, where authorities have raised the wildfire danger level to phase 2 following prolonged dry and warm conditions, Caliber.Az reports via Dutch media.

State Secretary for Defence Derk Boswijk said on social media that exercises will resume only once the risk of wildfires has sufficiently decreased.

The decision follows a series of incidents at the end of last month, when multiple wildfires broke out during military exercises, including in Gelderland and North Brabant. Within a two-day period, fires occurred at four separate military training grounds.

Officials had already indicated at the start of the recent warm spell that rules governing training during dry weather were under review. New safety protocols are expected to be finalised before the start of summer.

By Aghakazim Guliyev