Germany boosts armament of Afghan mission

BERLIN, June 23 (UPI) -- Germany is sending heavy weaponry to Afghanistan to better protect its troops against increasing insurgent attacks.

Berlin will dispatch drones and a series of armed vehicles to Afghanistan, where some 4,000 German troops are stationed with the International Security Assistance Force.

Wolfgang Schneiderhan, the army chief of staff, told a parliamentary commission meeting behind closed doors that Germany would be sending several Marder infantry combat vehicles to Afghanistan, the Handelsblatt daily reports.

The Marder, a tank-like vehicle mounted with a 20 mm cannon, will help German special forces battle the Taliban, the newspaper says. Berlin will also dispatch several Dingo und Fuchs armored cars, as well as armored transporters. Officials from Germany's Social Democratic Party have also called for war choppers to be deployed to Afghanistan.

German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said last week in Berlin his ministry planned to buy three unmanned aerial vehicles to be deployed to Afghanistan next year. The Heron 1 drones, built by Israeli Aerospace and German Rheinmetall, are to assist German ground troops with reconnaissance. The German armed forces are already using German-made Aladin and Luna drones in Afghanistan, but the more advanced Heron is better suited for long-range missions.

The Germans are stationed in the northern provinces of the country, tasked mainly with reconstruction efforts. Over the past two years security has gradually deteriorated in the once peaceful region around the capital Kabul. The number of roadside bombings, rocket attacks and firefights with the Taliban is increasing -- as is the German death toll. This has undermined support for the mission at home, although it has never been really popular with citizens here.

The German Cabinet has just given its green light to send another 300 troops to Afghanistan as part of a NATO deployment of Awacs reconnaissance planes. The deployment has to be signed off by Parliament, which will cast its vote next month.

Germany already has a Panavia Tornado jet squadron flying reconnaissance missions over Afghanistan, but the Awacs are a necessary addition because unlike the Tornados, they are able to send images back to mission command in real time.

Meanwhile, Germany's parliamentarians agreed to extend the mandate of the armed forces' deployment with the EU anti-piracy mission Atalanta.

Berlin has three frigates, a supply ship and a reconnaissance plane serving with the EU mission securing the waters off the Somali coast. Because of ongoing pirate attacks, Brussels has just extended Atalanta until December 2010.