Germany plans to expand its naval operations against human traffickers as part of an EU mission in the Mediterranean, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cabinet decided Wednesday.

"The government today decided on the participation of German armed forces in a new phase of the EU-led Operation EUNAVFOR MED," said Merkel's spokesman Georg Streiter.

Pending parliamentary approval, up to 950 armed German military personnel will join operations to rescue migrants on the high seas and confiscate traffickers' vessels, the cabinet decided.