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Germany Is The Latest Country to Approve Military Campaign Against Islamic State in Syria

The German parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of joining international efforts against IS in Syria — but their military will not engage in active combat.
A German Tornado jet. Photo by Daniel Dal Zennaro/EPA

Germany's parliament voted on Friday morning to join international military action against the Islamic State in Syria.

The country will not fight or carry out air strikes but will provide support to international allies in the form of six Tornado reconnaissance jets, tanker aircraft, and a frigate to help protect the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle.

Up to 1,200 troops will also de deployed as part of the German government plans, which were supported by a huge majority of 445 votes to 146 against.

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German parliament approves military campaign against Islamic State in Syria https://t.co/KhbeeDix0C via @reuters pic.twitter.com/wO6bO9bqqM

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France requested assistance from Germany following last month's terror attacks in Paris.

The approved mandate lasts for one year and is budgeted at €134 million ($146 million). It will be Germany's biggest current foreign military operation.'s

The German cabinet approved the plan three days ago. The country's foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, told newspaper Bild that patience would be required in the fight against an enemy like IS, but "we are doing what is militarily necessary, what we can do best, and what we can back politically."

An opinion poll published on Tuesday indicated a very mixed view among Germans about taking action against IS abroad. In a YouGov poll for the DPA news agency reported by the BBC, 71 percent of people surveyed said they believed it would raise the threat of attack in Germany, but nearly half still backed it.

Friday's vote follows the British parliamentary vote on Wednesday in which politicians agreed to join France, Russia and the United States in carrying out air strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria. British jets launched strikes targeting Islamic State oil fields the same night.

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