(Update 2) Japan to Send SDF Aircraft to Djibouti to Evacuate Japanese

(Update 2) Japan to Send SDF Aircraft to Djibouti to Evacuate Japanese

An Air Self-Defense Force C-2 transport aircraft lands at the ASDF's Iruma Air Base in Saitama Prefecture in September 2021 after completing a mission to evacuate Japanese nationals from Afghanistan.
An Air Self-Defense Force C-2 transport aircraft lands at the ASDF's Iruma Air Base in Saitama Prefecture in September 2021 after completing a mission to evacuate Japanese nationals from Afghanistan.

   Tokyo, June 19 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani on Thursday ordered the dispatch of Air Self-Defense Force transport aircraft to Djibouti to prepare for evacuating Japanese nationals from Israel and Iran amid heightened tensions in the Middle East.
   Two ASDF C-2 transports and some 120 SDF members will be dispatched to the northeast African country. The planes are set to depart the ASDF's Miho base in the western Japan prefecture of Tottori as early as Saturday.
   At the request of Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, Nakatani ordered the commander of the Joint Operations Command to dispatch the transports.
   Separately, about 10 SDF members left for the Middle East in the early hours of Thursday to chiefly engage in collecting information.
   There are approximately 1,000 Japanese living in Israel and some 280 in Iran, according to the Foreign Ministry.

(2025/06/19-19:01)

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