ID :
138618
Sat, 08/21/2010 - 04:08
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/138618
The shortlink copeid
Gov't orders SDF to send chopper unit to flood-hit Pakistan+
TOKYO, Aug. 20 Kyodo - Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa on Friday ordered the Ground Self-Defense Force to dispatch a helicopter unit to flood-hit Pakistan on a humanitarian relief mission.
According to the order, three UH-1 utility helicopters and three CH-47 carrier
choppers will be sent to the country to transport flood-affected Pakistani
residents, relief goods and medicines.
A total of 530 Ground, Air and Maritime SDF troops will be mobilized for the
mission, which will last for two months.
The first batch of SDF personnel will leave for Pakistan from southwestern
Japan's Fukuoka airport on Saturday and the helicopter unit will begin
operations possibly later next week, government officials said.
The Japanese SDF members will be based in Multan, central Pakistan, and will be
active in an area with a radius of about 200 kilometers.
The Pakistani government had asked Tokyo to provide support for northern areas
of the country, where large numbers of people are marooned, but the Japanese
government picked a base site in central Pakistan where security conditions are
more stable.
The SDF personnel will carry no weapons while engaging in disaster relief
activities in line with the Japanese government's policy, and Pakistani
security forces will protect the SDF troops.
The helicopters will be sent to Pakistan from Monday by Air Self-Defense Force
C-130 transport planes and a vessel of the Maritime Self-Defense Force, the
officials said.
Before issuing the order, Kitazawa told a meeting of senior Defense Ministry
officials and SDF officers that he expects the ministry and the SDF to ''fully
utilize their knowledge and equipment and make the helicopter unit's assistance
fruitful.''
Kitazawa earlier instructed the GSDF to collect necessary information on
Pakistan in preparation for the dispatch, which will be the first of its kind
since 2005, the ministry said.
The move came after the Pakistani government made a request for the Japanese
helicopter unit and a Japanese fact-finding mission visited the country.
Tokyo has already announced emergency grant aid and other relief items of up to
$14.4 million to help Pakistan deal with the disaster.
It is estimated that some 20 million people, or about 10 percent of Pakistan's
population, have been affected by the floods, which have destroyed homes,
washed away villages and knocked out critical infrastructure.
==Kyodo
According to the order, three UH-1 utility helicopters and three CH-47 carrier
choppers will be sent to the country to transport flood-affected Pakistani
residents, relief goods and medicines.
A total of 530 Ground, Air and Maritime SDF troops will be mobilized for the
mission, which will last for two months.
The first batch of SDF personnel will leave for Pakistan from southwestern
Japan's Fukuoka airport on Saturday and the helicopter unit will begin
operations possibly later next week, government officials said.
The Japanese SDF members will be based in Multan, central Pakistan, and will be
active in an area with a radius of about 200 kilometers.
The Pakistani government had asked Tokyo to provide support for northern areas
of the country, where large numbers of people are marooned, but the Japanese
government picked a base site in central Pakistan where security conditions are
more stable.
The SDF personnel will carry no weapons while engaging in disaster relief
activities in line with the Japanese government's policy, and Pakistani
security forces will protect the SDF troops.
The helicopters will be sent to Pakistan from Monday by Air Self-Defense Force
C-130 transport planes and a vessel of the Maritime Self-Defense Force, the
officials said.
Before issuing the order, Kitazawa told a meeting of senior Defense Ministry
officials and SDF officers that he expects the ministry and the SDF to ''fully
utilize their knowledge and equipment and make the helicopter unit's assistance
fruitful.''
Kitazawa earlier instructed the GSDF to collect necessary information on
Pakistan in preparation for the dispatch, which will be the first of its kind
since 2005, the ministry said.
The move came after the Pakistani government made a request for the Japanese
helicopter unit and a Japanese fact-finding mission visited the country.
Tokyo has already announced emergency grant aid and other relief items of up to
$14.4 million to help Pakistan deal with the disaster.
It is estimated that some 20 million people, or about 10 percent of Pakistan's
population, have been affected by the floods, which have destroyed homes,
washed away villages and knocked out critical infrastructure.
==Kyodo
