ID :
180991
Mon, 05/09/2011 - 19:02
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/180991
The shortlink copeid
Gov't to scale back 100,000-strong SDF disaster relief operations
TOKYO, May 9 Kyodo - Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said Monday his ministry will scale back this month disaster relief operations currently being carried out by about 100,000 Self-Defense Forces members, two months after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami which hit northeastern and eastern Japan.
According to the Defense Ministry, it plans to halve about 36,000 personnel from the Maritime and Air self-defense forces and reduce to about 50,000 from about 70,000 personnel from the Ground Self-Defense Force by the end of this month.
Kitazawa told his ministry's task force on the disaster that the personnel from the MSDF and ASDF will step up their original roles in intelligence gathering and surveillance, while continuing their relief operations for quake-hit remote islands.
On the cutback in the GSDF personnel engaged in providing support to quake and tsunami victims and searching for missing people, Kitazawa said their operations would be downsized after adjustments with local municipalities concerned.
In the largest-ever deployment of SDF personnel, around 100,000 have been mobilized for relief efforts since mid-March in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami and the ensuing nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
According to the Defense Ministry, it plans to halve about 36,000 personnel from the Maritime and Air self-defense forces and reduce to about 50,000 from about 70,000 personnel from the Ground Self-Defense Force by the end of this month.
Kitazawa told his ministry's task force on the disaster that the personnel from the MSDF and ASDF will step up their original roles in intelligence gathering and surveillance, while continuing their relief operations for quake-hit remote islands.
On the cutback in the GSDF personnel engaged in providing support to quake and tsunami victims and searching for missing people, Kitazawa said their operations would be downsized after adjustments with local municipalities concerned.
In the largest-ever deployment of SDF personnel, around 100,000 have been mobilized for relief efforts since mid-March in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami and the ensuing nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
