The Federal Cabinet has decided to extend the deployment of German soldiers against the terrorist militia "Islamic State" (IS). The Ministerial gave Berlin the green light for a new Iraq mandate and the further deployment of the Bundeswehr as part of the international anti-IS coalition.
The deployment of German Tornado reconnaissance aircraft in Jordan and the use of tankers for the anti-IS coalition should therefore only be extended until March 31, 2020. The training assistance for security forces in Iraq, however, will be extended for another year. The mandate provides for an upper limit of 700 deployed soldiers.
Previous successes must be backed up and a re-establishment of the IS must be prevented, it says in the mandate text, the news agency dpa was present. "Otherwise, there is a threat of a renewed slide into uncertain and volatile conditions with negative effects on the entire region," it continues.
An extension of the mission has yet to be approved by the Bundestag. The SPD had initially been called upon to end the tornado deployment on October 31, as the Bundestag had decided. The terrorist militia IS has since defeated militarily, but has formed new networks in the underground.
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