Germany will send Tornado jets to support France in Syria

   BERLIN (Reuters) --- 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 on Thursday.

   "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 refueling planes as part of the mission, coalition sources have said.