Germany May Send Its Elite Special Forces To Syria

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On Friday the German Bundestag approved the deployment of 1,200 soliders to Syria to fight ISIS.

And now according to local media, German authorities say they might send elite special forces, the Kommando Spezialkräfte (KSK), to strengthen the task force and in case of an emergency

RT reports:

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This was “made very clear” by German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen and Bundeswehr chief of staff Gen Volker Wieker during preliminary hearings at Bundestag’s defense committee on Wednesday, Bild claims, adding that it’s unclear how many special troops could be sent to Syria.

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The newspaper reports that possible missions for the KSK unit on the ground could be, among others, rescue operations to “liberate downed Tornado pilots.” It is yet unknown whether the Bundestag’s approval on Friday included such kind of missions.

Some in Germany claim the Syrian deployment would necessitate boosting the country’s army, considering the Bundeswehr currently runs two additional operations on remote theatres.

Head of the Bonn-based Association of Bundeswehr Personnel Lt Col André Wüstner told Neue German media on Friday, German military would “need at least 5,000 or 10,000 soldiers more,” quoted as saying by Tagesschau. To Wüstner, the number of personnel available may become a pressing issue as from January 2016 “over 20,000 soldiers” will find themselves in “deployments across Afghanistan, which is prolonged, and also in Northern Iraq and Mali.”

German lawmakers agreed to the mandate for the deployment of Tornado reconnaissance jets, a frigate and up to 1,200 troops by an overwhelming majority of 445 votes in favour and 146 against on Friday.