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Military
Defense Ministry Wrapping Up Pakistan Aid Mission
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
GSDF Pakistan
Tokyo -- Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, in consultation with senior ministry officials, issued orders for the termination of the GSDF helicopter aid mission in central Pakistan today.
The decision was prompted by a request from the Pakistani government on October 1st for the mission to be concluded soon.
Kitazawa's order mandates the GSDF helicopters to continue activities until October 10th and then return home to Japan.
The GSDF mission has been based in the Multan district, Punjab Province, and consisted of six helicopters and about two hundred GSDF troops. In their five weeks of activity, they have transported about forty members of medical teams and about 170 tons of food and medical supplies to remote regions within the country.
Kitazawa told reporters that, in light of the increasing number of SDF deployments abroad, it is important to "seriously consider" changes in government policies relating to the transport and use of weapons.
With the withdrawal of the GSDF mission, Japanese efforts to aid victims of Pakistan's massive flooding will be entirely in the hands of the Foreign Ministry, civilian NGOs, and fundraising events, which are still going strong.
PanOrient News
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