Germany’s lower house of parliament on Friday overwhelmingly approved extending the deployment of 3,000 troops and six reconnaissance jets in Afghanistan for another year, despite mounting public scepticism about the mission.

The vote in the 613-seat Bundestag — 454-79 with 48 abstentions — was the final step needed to extend the mission. Public opinion polls recently indicated most Germans want the troops to come home following attacks on German forces and kidnappings of German citizens there.

But Chancellor Angela Merkel's government had pressed for a renewal, saying to pull out now would open the door to a possible return of the Taliban regime ousted in 2001 and endanger years of progress in rebuilding the country.

Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, a Left-wing Social Democrat, said during the Bundestag debate that troops were needed to support rebuilding schools so that Afghan children, especially girls who were banned from schools by the Taliban, had a chance to get an education.