The last batch of Japanese troops to pull out from Iraq arrived in Kuwait on Monday and will be leaving that country within a week, said Fukushiro Nukaga, Japan's State Minister for Defense.
But some 210 Japanese airmen who transport non-military material into Iraq from airbases in Kuwait will remain "indefinitely" in the Gulf state, Nukaga told a press conference.
"Today, the last batch of ground Self-Defense Forces arrived in Kuwait. They will undergo certain procedures and medical checkup for one week and then will go back home," the minister said.
The group, consisting of 220 personnel, was a part of the several hundred Japanese ground troops on a humanitarian and reconstruction mission in Iraq's southern Muthanna Province.
During their mission in Iraq, the Japanese troops suffered no casualties and did not fire their weapons. The mission relied on British and Australian troops for protection, as Japanese troops are barred from using force.
Nukaga said the Japanese forces "successfully" completed their humanitarian mission in Iraq, which included rebuilding many schools, over 100km of roads and installing water purification machines.
"Providing humanitarian aid and reconstruction was the main aim of the Japanese forces, while preserving security was a secondary goal," Nukaga said.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi ordered the 600 Japanese troops to leave Iraq after Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced that his government would assume responsibility for security in the province.
Koizumi went ahead with the Iraq deployment despite domestic opposition in a country that has been firmly pacifist for more than six decades.
Nukaga said Japanese airmen will remain in Kuwait "to support multinational forces in improving the living conditions of Iraqis."
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
A Japanese city would urge all smartphone users to limit screen time to two hours a day outside work or school under a proposed ordinance that includes no penalties. The limit — which would be recommended for all residents in Toyoake City — would not be binding and there would be no penalties incurred for higher usage, the draft ordinance showed. The proposal aims “to prevent excessive use of devices causing physical and mental health issues... including sleep problems,” Mayor Masafumi Koki said yesterday. The draft urges elementary-school students to avoid smartphones after 9pm, and junior-high students and older are advised not
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has fired his national police chief, who gained attention for leading the separate arrests of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte on orders of the International Criminal Court and televangelist Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, who is on the FBI’s most-wanted list for alleged child sex trafficking. Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin did not cite a reason for the removal of General Nicolas Torre as head of the 232,000-member national police force, a position he was appointed to by Marcos in May and which he would have held until 2027. He was replaced by another senior police general, Jose
POWER CONFLICT: The US president threatened to deploy National Guards in Baltimore. US media reports said he is also planning to station troops in Chicago US President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to deploy National Guard troops to yet another Democratic stronghold, the Maryland city of Baltimore, as he seeks to expand his crackdown on crime and immigration. The Republican’s latest online rant about an “out of control, crime-ridden” city comes as Democratic state leaders — including Maryland Governor Wes Moore — line up to berate Trump on a high-profile political stage. Trump this month deployed the National Guard to the streets of Washington, in a widely criticized show of force the president said amounts to a federal takeover of US capital policing. The Guard began carrying