Japanese troops separately reported Iraq security situation

April 23, 2018

Tokyo- A report from Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force troops dispatched to Iraq, drawn up separately from their daily logs, contained detailed descriptions of the tense security situation faced by them, informed sources told Jiji Press on Monday.

The logs said the troops had an encounter with a crowd of people supporting anti-U.S. Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr near Samawah on Dec. 4, 2005, during preparations for a ceremony to mark the completion of a care facility, and that there was damage to GSDF vehicles.

The Defense Ministry last week published the logs after the agency denied their existence early last year. The GSDF troops were based in Samawah, southern Iraq, during their postwar reconstruction mission between 2004 and 2006.

Further details were provided in the separate report, which has yet to be published, the sources said.

The report stated that the encounter lasted about five minutes and that there were two or three armed people nearby, according to the sources.

The report also said the GSDF troops experienced hostile acts such as damage to 12 GSDF vehicles and that some 50 people, apparently Sadr supporters, staged a protest during the ceremony, according to the sources.

The activities of the GSDF troops were limited only to noncombat areas. The logs and report will be helpful in determining whether this requirement was met.

A ministry official said that the agency has been working to confirm whether the report exists.

The report also said the GSDF's quick reaction force was ready for deployment during the incident, according to the sources. The crowd was dispersed by Iraqi police and the GSDF troops returned safely to their camp in Samawah, according to the sources. Jiji Press