European soldiers now have a facility in the Netherlands for training in technical exploitation techniques to help combat improvised explosive devices.

The facility -- the Joint Deployable Exploitation and Analysis Laboratory -- is located in the Netherlands and is sponsored by the Netherlands and the European Defense Agency.

EDA said the facility focuses on providing the skills needed for technical exploitation of IEDs, including the recording and analyzing of information related to events, scenes, technical components, and material used in IED attacks.

Techniques to be taught include biometric analysis to recover latent fingerprints on a device; chemical analysis; and mechanical exploitation.

Part of the instruction will involve the use of equipment and knowledge gained from the Counter-IED Technical Exploitation Laboratory deployed with the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul, Afghanistan.

"This new facility allows us to maintain and build on the skills and experiences that we gained in Kabul," said utch Warrant Officer Bert Westers, an instructor at the facility who served in Afghanistan. "It also helps to improve our forces' ability to deal with threats from IEDs in the future."

In addition to training, the facility will be a research and development center in the counter-IED field.

The European Defense Agency said two mobile facilities are planned for the near future.

The Netherlands and 10 other EDA member States -- Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden -- plus Norway are part of the counter-IED project.