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Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet approved an extension of German participation in the Nato-led force in Afghanistan Tuesday and added 1,000 more soldiers to the mission, a government spokesman said. The decision will prolong the mandate for the deployment, which is highly unpopular in Germany, by 14 months until December 2009, and boost the maximum German troop level in the strife-wracked country to 4,500.
The mandate also covers the use of Tornado reconnaissance jets, deputy government spokesman Thomas Steg told reporters. The lower house Bundestag was to begin a debate on the issue later Tuesday and is expected to approve the new mandate with an overwhelming majority next week.
"The additional troops will be used primarily to train the Afghan army," Steg said. "The necessary flexibility should also be maintained to react to unforeseen escalation in the security situation. In addition, the extra troops will be used to secure the presidential elections next year if that is required."
Mandates for military deployments are usually for one year. The longer extension means a new German parliament can vote on the highly contentious issue after the September 2009 general election. The German troops are stationed in Afghanistan's relative calm north with the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
Their remit is to help shore up Afghanistan's fragile central government and foster reconstruction and development of the war-ravaged country. The government acknowledged in a statement that the security situation was under threat from insurgents and organised crime, particularly in the south and east of the country, where 90 percent of "security-related incidents" occur.
It said it was crucial to ensure that the country never again "harboured terrorists" as it did before the anti-US suicide hijackings of September 11, 2001. Polls indicate the deployment is highly unpopular in Germany, in part due to its indefinite nature, with a lack of clear goals that would justify a withdrawal at a given point in time. Steg said Tuesday that a protracted debate about a German exit strategy would undermine the deployment.
"In light of our responsibilities in Afghanistan, developments in Afghanistan and the aggravated security situation in Afghanistan, the chancellor and the foreign minister and the cabinet made clear that it would be more than negligent to talk about a time to end the mandate," he said.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2008

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