The German cabinet approved here on Wednesday to dispatch eight Tornado jets to Afghanistan for surveillance operations.

German media quoted government sources as saying that the fighter jets will be used to provide the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) with images of Taliban activities rather than combat.

Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said that the jets for intelligence would also be used to help protect German peacekeepers.

Germany has deployed 2,700 troops with the 35,000-member NATO force in Afghanistan, mainly in the relatively peaceful northern part of the war-torn country.

Six to eight aircraft will be deployed with up to 500 soldiers to man them, according to the plan.

The German parliament, Bundestag, is set to vote for the mission by early March as Chancellor Angela Merkel's grand coalition government enjoys huge majority in the Bundestag.

"I hope for the Bundestag's full support," said Jung, adding if the legislature okayed the mission, the Tornados could be in Afghanistan by mid-April.

Germany's plan to send Tornado jets to Afghanistan was an response to NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer's request that the Tornados fly support missions over southern Afghanistan for NATO ground forces amid fears of a Taliban offensive as spring draws near.

Tornado reconnaissance jets would operate across the entire country, taking aerial pictures of Taliban positions and passing the information on to other NATO partners to carry out strikes against them.

The six-month tour will cost Germany an estimated 35 million euros (45.3 million U.S. dollars), according to Deutsche Welle radio.

Source: Xinhua