Bundeswehr Headed South?

If sent, the six German jets could serve as a means of locating potential targets and passing the information on to operational planners, Jung said.

"We need better reconnaissance to counter terrorist attacks in a timely manner," the minister told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

Jung also said he would not rule out sending German special forces wherever they are required saying Germany "would naturally help, even in other regions" of Afghanistan as it already has by providing NATO with transportation and radio technology.

Decision expected this week

The German cabinet is set Wednesday to debate and possibly decide on whether to permit the country's Tornado reconnaissance jets to fly patrols in southern Afghanistan, as requested by NATO and the Afghan government.

The planes could arrive in Afghanistan by the end of March if the deployment is approved by both the German government and parliament.

Germany currently has nearly 2,900 soldiers engaged in reconstruction efforts in the relatively safe northern region of Afghanistan, and NATO, which leads the international military deployment to Afghanistan, has repeatedly requested Germany expand its Afghan mission.

The Bundeswehr would have to send at least 500 additional soldiers to Afghanistan to maintain the Tornado jets if they are to fly missions in the country's south. NATO has pressed for the jets as part of a planned spring offensive against Taliban forces.

The Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Spanta told Deutschlandfunk radio the German jets would be a major contribution in the fight against terrorism in his country saying "Europe is a direct neighbor of the terror network " in his country. However, he also added that it was up to the German government whether to send the planes.

A risky mission 3,800 meters high

In reply to questions from the opposition's free-market liberal Free Democratic Party, the government said the German jets would be put at risk if sent on reconnaissance missions, the Welt am Sonntag reported.

"Flying into MANPADS sphere of operation could be required for tactical reasons," the report said, referring to the shoulder-fired Man Portable Air Defense Systems that were often used in Afghanistan's war against the Soviets.

Opposition Left Party leader Oskar Lafontaine criticized Chancellor Angela Merkel's grand coalition of Christian and Social Democrats for its policy in Afghanistan.

"The administration is doing everything it can to get Germany directly involved in the war in Afghanistan," he said Sunday in Berlin. "This path puts German soldiers' lives in danger and brings terrorism into the country."

Greens party security affairs expert Winfried Nachtwei said his party would look at the government's entire plan for Afghanistan before making a decision on whether to put the Tornados under NATO control.

"The military cannot be allowed to be in the forefront," he told Bremen's Kurier am Sonntag. "Civilian construction has to take precedence."