German lawmakers extend Afghanistan mission

BERLIN, Sep 28 (Reuters) German lawmakers today agreed to keep German troops in Afghanistan for another year as part of a NATO peace-keeping mission despite concerns the Bundeswehr could be stretched by its overseas commitments.

One week after the German navy embarked on a mission to patrol the coast off Lebanon, lawmakers voted 492 to 71, with nine abstentions, to extend the Afghanistan mission for another 12 months.

Germany leads the NATO mission in the relatively calm north of the country, where it has 2,900 troops on the ground. That is almost the full quota of 3,000 soldiers set by parliament.

It has ruled out sending troops to the mainly lawless south to support British, Dutch and Canadian forces, who are facing attacks from Taliban guerrillas. France has also refused to send troops to the south, saying it has its hands full in Kabul.

It was less than eight years ago that Germany took part in its first foreign combat operations since World War Two. Now it has almost 4,000 troops in the Balkans, nearly 3,000 in Afghanistan and more than 1,000 in Africa, mainly in Congo.

Lawmakers approved the deployment of 2,400 troops to Lebanon yesterday, a mission which breaks a postwar taboo by taking German forces into the heart of the West Asia.

The German defence ministry has called for more money to support its operations, but the finance ministry has rejected the demands.

Some Germans fear that calls to join future international peace-keeping missions would strain resources.

NATO nations have around 18,500 troops in Afghanistan with other non-NATO countries contributing a further 1,500 to its International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

Reuters SP DB1952