By DPA
Berlin : German parliament Thursday approved the extension of the mandate for up to 1,400 troopers to participate in the US-led global counter-terrorism mission Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF).
The extension, which was strongly backed by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition government, was passed with 414 delegates voting in favour and 145 against with 15 delegates abstaining.
Last week, the cabinet decided to back the deployment, while cutting the maximum number deployed from 1,800 to 1,400 on the grounds that the additional troops were in any case not required.
The Bundestag (German parliament) had last month extended the separate mandate for 3,500 German troops stationed in northern Afghanistan, comprising a reconstruction and training mission and six reconnaissance jets.
The OEF commitment, which was approved Thursday, includes a frigate and 248 marines deployed on the Horn of Africa, as well as a submarine with 53 troops stationed in the eastern Mediterranean.
The most controversial aspect is the commitment of 100 elite KSK special forces to assist ground operations in Afghanistan. The KSK has not been deployed in this role since 2005.
Merkel’s conservative Christian bloc and their coalition partners, the Social Democrats, backed the extension, as did the liberal FDP from the opposition benches.
The opposition Greens and Left parties voted against.
Greens Bundestag member Juergen Trittin, who as a cabinet minister in the previous government backed the original deployment, said the OEF established after the Sep 11, 2001 attacks on the US could no longer be supported without a UN mandate.