On April 22, the Government of Japan made a cabinet decision to extend by six months (until November 1, 2005) the operation of the Self Defense Forces (SDF) in support of the “Operation Enduring Freedom.”
The operations of the SDF have been conducted under the terms of the Anti-Terrorism Special Measures Law since November 2001. Since then, Japan has dispatched destroyers and supply ships to the Indian Ocean to provide at-sea refueling to naval vessels of the U.S. and other allies in the campaign. As of March 29, the Maritime SDF has completed more than 500 refueling operations for those naval vessels, totaling approximately 105 million gallons of fuel. The Maritime SDF supplies about 30% of all fuel consumed by U.S. and allied naval vessels. The Maritime SDF also began to supply water and fuel for helicopters to the allied countries since last November.
In addition, the Air SDF of Japan has provided airlift support to the U.S. Forces with C-130 transport aircraft and others. The Air SDF has completed 269 transport missions both in Japan and overseas since November 2001.
[Related Links]
* Embassy of Japan: Fight against Terrorism
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