Germany and jets to Afghanistan

BERLIN, Feb 7 (Reuters) Germany's cabinet agreed today to send six Tornado reconnaissance jets to Afghanistan as requested by NATO to help boost intelligence gathering ahead of an expected spring offensive by Taliban insurgents.

About 500 crew and maintenance staff will accompany the aircraft to Afghanistan where Germany already has about 3,000 troops stationed, mainly in Kabul and the relatively stable northern region, as part of the NATO-led peacekeeping mission.

Germany has resisted pressure mainly from the United States and Britain to redeploy soldiers to the more dangerous south.

''Better reconnaissance will lead to measured and proportional reactions from international forces and should help avoid collateral damage,'' Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung told reporters after the cabinet agreement.

''I hope parliament will support this decision.'' Parliament is widely expected to give its approval in March to the decision to send the jets to Afghanistan at a cost of 35 million euros (45.47 million dollar). Jung has said the planes could be dispatched in April.

Germany has been seeking to expand its role in overseas missions in the last decade, but many citizens are uncomfortable about the emergence of a strong army in a country still trying to come to terms with its Nazi past.

With more than 4,000 people killed in violence, last year was the bloodiest in Afghanistan since US-led forces toppled the Taliban government in 2001.

REUTERS AB PM2022