Dutch soldiers going on a tour of duty to Afghanistan are to have their portraits taken before they depart to prevent the media taking private pictures from the internet in the case they die in action.

Following a report in today’s Volkskrant, the defence ministry has confirmed that it started taking photos of soldiers in their military uniform last year. But a spokesman said that a decision on which photo is given to the media rests with the family of the service man concerned.
The department has also made a deal with the social network website Hyves on closing down pages with photos of soldiers who die in Afghanistan if the family so wishes.