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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - German parliament approved Friday a motion by the government to extend its troops mission in Iraq for nine months. Kurdistan Region’s top officials welcomed the decision. 

The German government decided on January 12 to end its military mission in Syria but keep up to 500 soldiers in Iraq until the end of October 2022. The government sent a motion to the parliament which voted in favour of the extension of troops mandate in Iraq. 

Germany’s defence ministry said in a statement on Friday that there are currently around 250 German soldiers in Iraq taking part in the global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) and NATO mission in Iraq. 

Germany has been an essential member of the global coalition against ISIS. The Coalition was formally established in October 2014, after ISIS took control of vast swathes of territories in Iraq and Syria. Consisting of 84 nations, the US-led Coalition’s mission has been “degrading and ensuring Daesh’s enduring defeat,” it says on its website, using Arabic acronym for the extremist group. 

The combat mission of the Coalition ended in Iraq at the end of the last year but it continues in Syria. The German army has been mostly based in Kurdish areas of both countries. 

Kurdistan Region’s top officials had welcomed the German government’s decision to extend the mission in Iraq, and they welcomed the parliament approval as well on Friday.

“I thank Bundestag for deciding to extend German troops deployment in Iraq. ISIS remains a serious threat to International peace and regional stability, and continued joint effort is needed to defeat terrorism,” Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said in a tweet. 

The Region’s Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said he “strongly” welcomed the German parliament’s decision, saying “This mandate, and the support of the Global Coalition, is critical to the war on ISIS and training of Peshmerga forces and the Iraqi Army.” 

Source : Rudaw