Germany announced Wednesday that it extended the mandate of its troops in Afghanistan by one year.

"I regard it as totally irresponsible for German troops to be removed from Afghanistan. This would open the gates to terrorism," German Defense Minister Peter Struck said.

Struck said he had a mandate to increase the number of German troops in Afghanistan from 2,250 to 3,000.

German troops are part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) which has around 12,000 troops based around the capital city of Kabul to keep security in Afghanistan.

The German defense minister reiterated that the German troops would not get involved in the fight against drug production in the country.

Earlier this month, ministers of the 26-nation NATO agreed to build closer links between the alliance-led international force and the US-led troops in Afghanistan, but still differed on command.

The defense chiefs differed over who should be in charge and the command structures for cooperation between the two forces need to be further discussed.

Meanwhile, Germany and France are opposed to broadening the mission of the NATO troops in ISAF, saying that they should not be exposed to more dangers in Afghanistan.

Source: Xinhua