Some 200 German troops using 10 navy ships and several aircraft have monitored traffic in the Gulf of Oman for three years and assumed the rotating command of the mission for the first time from the United States in May 2002.

In the past year, German military have carried out checks on 12,500 ships and searched 400 of them, looking for supplies and weapons destined for terrorist groups.

The Bundestag lower house of parliament voted overwhelmingly in November in favor of prolonging Germany's involvement in Enduring Freedom, which was launched after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

The mission allows for 3,100 German soldiers but only 500 are currently deployed -- 300 in the port of Djibouti in northeastern Africa and 200 in the Strait of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean.

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