BERLIN, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- German pilots are preparing for combat missions in southern Afghanistan, according to a German TV report.
On Wednesday, the German Cabinet is expected to comply with a NATO request and send six Tornado war jets to southern Afghanistan to aid the International Security Assistance Force. The German parliament will decide on the move next week.
But the plan to send the Tornados has come under scrutiny after a report by German public broadcaster ARD claimed Bundeswehr pilots are testing technology called Reccelite that would allow them to participate in bombing campaigns. The ARD quoted a pilot who said he had received orders from "the highest positions" to acquire the skills for such missions "very quickly."
A Defense Ministry spokesman denied the report, claiming the tests had been planned for some time and had no connection with the Afghanistan mission. Yet several politicians have said they are worried German soldiers will be pulled into combat situations.
German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung Monday told German news channel n-tv that international forces could not win the war in Afghanistan by military means alone.
"We have to win the hearts of the people," he said.
Germany has some 2,750 soldiers stationed with ISAF, but they 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.
