Germany will send Tornado jets to Syria, lawmaker confirms

BERLIN - Germany will deploy Tornado reconnaissance jets to support France in the fight against Islamic State militants in Syria, a senior lawmaker for Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives confirmed on Thursday.

"Germany will be a more active contributor than it has been until now," Henning Otte, defense expert for the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) said in a statement.

"Not only will we bolster our training mission in northern Iraq but we will, among other things, make a contribution to the fight against IS terror with Tornado reconnaissance jets."

Germany is also considering sending a frigate and refuelling planes as part of the mission, coalition sources have said.