German parliament approves military action against ISIS in Syria

Germany’s lower house of parliament today approved plans to provide military assistance in the fight against Islamic State militants in Syria. The decision came after an appeal from France following the deadly Paris attacks last month. Parliament agreed by an overwhelming majority of 445 in favour compared to 146 against to deploy Tornado reconnaissance jets, a frigate to help protect the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and up to 1,200 troops. Germany will not join other countries in carrying out airstrikes. There has traditionally been reluctance to engage in military missions abroad in Germany, but the deaths of 130 people in Paris has swayed opinion in favour of intervention.

We must stop this terrorist gang of murderers. That will not be achieved with military action alone, but neither would it be achieved without.

Germany’s Justice Minister Heiko Maas

The atrocities prompted France to invoke a clause requiring EU states to provide military assistance to wipe out the IS group in Iraq and Syria. Britain joined the US-led bombing campaign over Syria on Thursday, striking an IS-held oil field as the momentum to take action against the jihadist group increases. After repeatedly ruling out the use of “boots on the ground”, US President Barack Obama also agreed to send as many as 100 special forces to Iraq, with a mandate to carry out raids inside Syria. Separately, Germany has also pledged to send 650 soldiers to Mali to provide some relief to French forces battling jihadists in the west African nation.

World German military support