German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said told German public television station ZDF that he expects a "broad approval" for the planned deployment, because the parliamentary representatives realize that the issue at stake is protecting German soldiers, civilians and reconstruction teams.

The Bundestag is expected to take up the issue of the mandate for deploying Tornado fighter jets, and a vote is expected in early March.

Jung noted that the security situation in Afghanistan had gotten more serious, saying: "Suicide bombings have multiplied."

Intelligence capacity

The fighter jets can also be used in gathering intelligence along the long border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, because Tornados can be used for both intelligence-gathering and fighting, he told ZDF.

Previously, German government sources said the German cabinet had ruled out sending the fighter jets into combat. When it debated the issue earlier this month, the cabinet said the planes would be used to provide the NATO-led International Secuirty Assistance Force (ISAF) wih images of Taliban activities.

NATO has "only asked for intelligence," Jung reiterated on Wednesday. Altogether, the Bundeswehr is charged with protecting and helping in Afghanistan, and would fight if German soldiers were attacked.

'Not a relief mission'

"We must clearly acknowledge that these are risky deployments," the minister admitted. That is all the more reason for "broad support" for German soldiers, he said.

But Peter Struck, head of the SPD parliamentary party and ex-defense minister himself, continued to stress that the mission must be seen as a battle mission: "It would be a mistake to see sending in our soldiers as if we were sending in a federal technical relief agency in soldiers' uniforms," he told German public radio Deutschlandfunk on Wednesday.