BERLIN: The German parliament on Friday approved a decision to send six Tornado jets to Afghanistan to carry out reconnaissance missions for Nato in the fight against the Taliban.

Members of the Bundestag lower house approved the mission by 405 to 157 votes.

Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung has said the aircraft will be manned by about 500 German soldiers and could be deployed in Afghanistan by mid-April.

The Tornados, which can supply aerial images of Taliban positions, will be stationed at Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan.

Germany has in recent months come under strong pressure from its Nato allies to increase its military presence in Afghanistan as international forces seek to crush a Taliban insurgency.

But the Tornado mission has proved highly controversial and Jung has had to give reluctant MPs assurances that the fighter jets will not be sent into combat.—AFP