TOKYO - Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Tuesday he has ordered the country's troops to conclude their firefighting operations in Indonesia, their first such mission overseas.
A Japanese Self-Defense Forces transport ship carrying three CH-47 helicopters was sent to Indonesia, hit by severe forest fires, with disaster relief operations launched Sept. 16.
Indonesia has informed Japan that the SDF operations have helped prevent the spread of the forest fires and that the Indonesian government can handle the response going forward.
The choppers had carried out over 40 rounds of aerial firefighting activities through Monday, dumping around 220 tons of water, Koizumi told a press conference.
"The Defense Ministry and the SDF would like to further deepen defense cooperation with Indonesia, building on the trust that has been cultivated" from the operation, he said.
The transport ship, the Kunisaki, an 8,900-ton Osumi-class vessel, left the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Kure base in the western Japanese prefecture of Hiroshima on Aug. 30 and arrived at Kijing Port in West Kalimantan on Sept. 10.
The mission followed an agreement signed between Koizumi and his Indonesian counterpart Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin in May to broaden defense cooperation, including in joint training and disaster relief operations.
