Germany parliament extends German troop deployment in Afghanistan

Fri, 28 Jan 2011

Berlin - Germany's parliament extended Friday its authorization for the military to operate in Afghanistan by a further year till February 2012, after weeks of intense negotiations with Chancellor Angela Merkel's government.

The opposition Social Democrats backed the authorization in the 420-116 division, with the Left Party opposed. There were 43 abstentions. The Greens had said they would vote against or abstain in the ballot.

Merkel had reached out to the Social Democrats to ensure bipartisan support and the authorization carried a rider that the first troops should if possible begin to come home by the end of this year.

Currently the contingent numbers 4,860 personnel. The authorization allows 5,000 to serve there, plus a reserve of 350 in case of emergency.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364713,german-troop-deployment-afghanistan.html.