Berlin - Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet approved Tuesday a 14-month extension of German military deployment in Afghanistan and urged parliament to approve an increase in troop strength. Germany currently has 3,500 soldiers serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), but the number should increase to 4,500 under a bill debated by the lower house.
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told deputies that Germany should not shirk its duties and allow other countries to shoulder the military burden in Afghanistan.
A vote is not due until mid-October, but the measure is expected easily to pass in the legislature, where Merkel's broad-based coalition enjoys a secure majority.
The bulk of the German troops are serving in the relative calm north of the country.
The defence ministry said the increased number of troops would be used mainly to train the Afghan army and if needed provide added security during the 2009 presidential elections.
ISAF has been in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Currently there are 53,000 soldiers from 40 nations deployed in Afghanistan, 23,500 of them from the United States.
Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said in return for a 1,000-man increase in the ISAF contingent, he was prepared to withdraw special forces from US-led operations to combat terrorism in Afghanistan.
On Monday, Defence Ministry spokesman Thomas Raabe said Germany's allies had accepted its decision not to renew the mandate for up to 100 elite troops to take part in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF).
The Afghan aspect of the OEF has been controversial in Germany because of the number of civilians killed in military operations against the Taliban.
OEF was set up in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.
In addition to the Afghan role, the OEF mandate also covers the presence of a German naval frigate on the Horn of Africa and two Orion surveillance aircraft in Djibouti.
Parliament is expected to begin debate on the OEF mission on November 4 and vote on it November 14.
