Six cargo planes of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces left for Pakistan Saturday to deliver relief supplies for Afghan refugees, officials said.
The C-130 transport aircraft, carrying about 140 personnel in total, left Komaki air base in central Japan shortly after 1:00 pm (0400 GMT).
The planes were transporting about 36 tons of supplies including 315 tents, 200 blankets and 400 water tanks.
"This mission is different from others and the situation is unpredictable," Yoshimitsu Tsumagari, commander of Air Support Command at the Komaki base, told the aid workers before they left.
"I urge you to remain alert and fulfil the hopes of the public," he said.
The planes are due to arrive in Islamabad on Tuesday. They will return to Japan on October 12.
It is the third time that Japan has deployed troops overseas to help refugees -- following a mission to the then Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo) to help civilians escaping violence in Rwanda in 1994 and another to Indonesia to support those from East Timor between 1999 and 2000.
Air Self-Defense Force Colonel Eiichi Yamaji, head of the relief mission to Pakistan, said in a statement that the UN request for the delivery of supplies reflects the trust of the international community in the Japanese forces.
"I have heard that Pakistan...has received a large number of refugees from Afghanistan who are forced to live in tough living conditions," he said.
"We will put all our efforts into fulfilling this mission," he said.
The latest dispatch of the Self Defense Forces came as Japanese lawmakers debate how much help Japan should provide for a US-led war on terrorism under the Japanese constitution.
The government recently submitted bills to parliament which would enable the Self Defense Forces to provide medical and logistic support to US forces in any strike on Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
Another bill is aimed at amending the SDF law to allow Japanese forces to protect US military facilities in Japan -- something that only the national police and coastguard are currently empowered to do.
The move sparked immediate debate in parliament with opposition parties questioning if the bills breach Japan's post-war constitution banning the use of force in settling international disputes - TOKYO (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
