BERLIN, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- The German government fears that expanding its Afghanistan mission will lead to further requests from international allies.
The office of German Chancellor Angela Merkel fears that sending six Tornado reconnaissance planes to aid the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan may be seen as a "signal of opening," German news magazine Der Spiegel writes in its latest issue, citing unnamed sources inside the chancellor's office.
Berlin reportedly anticipates that a "wish list" of requests, such as for more troops, would follow. Merkel nevertheless wants to send the additional planes.
Germany, through a parliamentary mandate, has some 2,700 soldiers stationed with ISAF but are confined to stay in relatively peaceful northern Afghanistan. Germany in the past has come under fire from NATO officials for confining their troops to the north while the death toll in the south is rising.
Observers say the German government is eager to prove to its allies that it wants to provide additional aid in Afghanistan. The deployment of reconnaissance planes is seen as a relatively safe way to do so, at least when it comes to human casualties.
The Tornado planes and the roughly 250 soldiers of the unit could be deployed also to the southern provinces, where fighting against the Taliban is fierce and bloody.
