Australia will come under pressure to send more troops to Afghanistan as Dutch forces appear almost certain to leave the country by the end of 2010, analysts say.

The Netherlands government collapsed on Sunday when prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende failed to get one of his coalition partners to agree to keep soldiers in Afghanistan beyond mid-year.

The Dutch contingent of about 2,000 soldiers was due to start leaving Afghanistan in August, but after a request from NATO Mr Balkenende proposed extending the mission by a further 12 months.

But Mr Balkenende's main coalition partner, the Labour Party, refused and pulled out of the government.

Mr Balkenende has since resigned and says it seems likely the Dutch forces will be out of Afghanistan by the end of the year.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) says that scenario has considerable implications for Australian troops.

Australian and Dutch soldiers work out of the same base in Uruzgan province and ASPI spokesman Raspal Khosa says in many ways the Australians rely on their colleagues from the Netherlands.

"We are training several battalions of that particular brigade. The Dutch are training the other elements, such as command and control, and some of the rifle battalions," he said.

"The Dutch are the lead nation in Uruzgan province. The Dutch supply some of the key combat enablers, from things such as fire support and tracked artillery right through to casualty evacuation.

"They also ran a very impressive Role 2 hospital, which is a facility that is akin to a medium-sized private hospital with a focus on trauma care."

A spokesman for Defence Minister John Faulkner says Australia has been working on the presumption that the Dutch would start pulling out from August.

But Mr Khosa says the withdrawal will still have a big impact.

"It was always the hope that [the Dutch] would perhaps retain the civilian element of their provincial reconstruction theme," he said.

"The Dutch are doing a tremendous job in terms of assisting [in] developing capacity in governance but also reconstruction activity, and it is a considerable burden for Australia to take on."

Mr Khosa expects that it will be American troops replacing the Dutch.

"They are moving a lot of their combat forces into there," he said.

Leadership hole

Meanwhile, Senator Faulkner has confirmed Australia will not take over a leadership role in Uruzgan province if the Dutch military withdraws.

Senator Faulkner told Senate Question Time the leadership issue would be resolved by NATO in consultation with Australia.

"It'll be several months before a new government is in place," he said.

"Given these developments, we anticipate the Dutch will proceed to relinquish leadership in Uruzgan and draw down their military forces from August.

"As I've previously said, Australia will not assume leadership in Uruzgan."

Mr Khosa says while the Government's position is not to supply more than the 1,550 soldiers it has currently authorised, there will be pressure to make up the shortfall.

"There will be huge pressure applied on the Australian Government from the ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) partners and the Americans to actually provide some more personnel, and certainly some of the combat enablers," he said.

Despite the turmoil, NATO is assuring Afghans the alliance will support them for as long as necessary.

NATO's senior civilian representative in Afghanistan, Mark Sedwill, says people are starting to ask some difficult questions.

"We have been here a long time. Security in particular has deteriorated over the last few years," he said.

"Governance has flatlined and it is only really [in the] economic development area that we've seen significant and consistent improvements."

But Mr Sedwill concedes that some Western governments are having a hard time persuading their electorates to support the military mission in Afghanistan.

"It is right that people are challenging us to explain why we believe that we can bring this campaign to a successful conclusion and why we are confident about the prospects for this year," he said.

"I think the politics in each country, although there are common themes, are not identical and we shouldn't assume that because one country has taken a decision, others will necessarily follow."

In the past few years, 21 Dutch soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan and opinion polls in the Netherlands indicate that the public wants troops pulled out.