Germany to deploy 1,200 troops to help fight Islamic State

Germany plans to deploy 1,200 soldiers to help in the fight against the Islamic State, the chief of staff said Sunday.

The troops would not take part in combat operations and would only be involved in reconnaissance and support roles, and the move requires approval from parliament, according to a report in the Telegraph.

“From a military point of view, some 1,200 soldiers are expected to be needed to operate the planes and ships,” Bundeswehr Chief of Staff Volker Wieker told the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag.

If approved, the soldiers could be dispatched before the end of the year, and would be Germany’s largest current foreign military deployment. Germany would field four to six Tornado reconnaissance aircraft, either in Turkey or Amman, for sorties over Syria. A frigate would accompany French aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle, currently carrying out airstrikes against IS from the Mediterranean.

Last week Germany pledged to send Tornado reconnaissance jets, a naval frigate, and 650 soldiers to help relieve French forces in Mali after French President Francois Hollande urged Berlin to do more in the fight against Islamic State jihadists.

Hollande met Chancellor Angela Merkel during a week of intense efforts by France to build a coalition to crush IS in its fiefdom in Iraq and Syria.

Hollande said he hoped Germany “can do even more in the fight against Daesh in Syria and Iraq,” using another term for IS, which claimed responsibility for the carnage in the French capital.

Merkel said in response she would act “swiftly” to see how Germany could take up “additional responsibilities” to assist in the fight against terror.

“We will be stronger than the terror,” she said.