The decision will prolong the mandate for the deployment, which is highly unpopular in Germany, by 14 months until December 2009, and boost the maximum German troop level in the strife-wracked country to 4,500.

The mandate also covers the use of Tornado reconnaissance jets, deputy government spokesman Thomas Steg told reporters.

The lower house Bundestag began a debate on the issue later Tuesday and was expected to approve the new mandate with an overwhelming majority next week.

"If countries like us left (Afghanistan), it would violate the solidarity we have with the soldiers who remain," Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a fervent call for a renewal of the mandate.

"It would also mean sacrificing the goal for which we have worked together for seven years."

Steinmeier added, however, that there would be no new mandate for the KSK special forces serving with the US-led "war on terror" in Afghanistan, in a separate decision to be confirmed by the parliament next month.

Steg said at a news conference earlier that the additional troops will be used primarily to train the Afghan army and to beef up security.

"The necessary flexibility should also be maintained to react to unforeseen escalation in the security situation," he said.

"In addition, the extra troops will be used to secure the presidential elections next year if that is required."

Mandates for military deployments are usually for one year. The longer extension means a new German parliament can vote on the highly contentious issue after the September 2009 general election.

The German troops are stationed in Afghanistan's relative calm north with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

Their remit is to help shore up Afghanistan's fragile central government and foster reconstruction and development of the war-ravaged country.

The government acknowledged in a statement that the security situation was under threat from insurgents and organised crime, particularly in the south and east of the country, where 90 percent of "security-related incidents" occur.

It said it was crucial to ensure that the country never again "harboured terrorists" as it did before the anti-US suicide hijackings of September 11, 2001.

Polls indicate the deployment is highly unpopular in Germany, in part due to its indefinite nature, with a lack of clear goals that would justify a withdrawal at a given point in time.

Steg said Tuesday that a protracted debate about a German exit strategy would undermine the deployment.

"In light of our responsibilities in Afghanistan, developments in Afghanistan and the aggravated security situation in Afghanistan, the chancellor and the foreign minister and the cabinet made clear that it would be more than negligent to talk about a time to end the mandate," he said.

The defence ministry said Monday that the mandate for elite KSK troops made available since 2001 for the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) against Taliban militants would be terminated because they had not been deployed for the last three years.

The OEF mission is also highly controversial in Germany because of heavy civilian casualties.

However, the KSK role in hunting militants with an international force in the Horn of Africa is to continue.

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