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Japan dispatches SDF aircraft to evacuate aid workers in S. Sudan

Xinhua, July 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Japanese government on Monday deployed three Self-Defense Forces aircraft to evacuate aid workers from South Sudan who have been trapped due to an escalating conflict between government and opposition forces.

The defense ministry here said that three C-130 transport planes had departed from the Air Self-Defense Force Komaki Base in Aichi Prefecture, in central Japan, on Monday evening.

The ministry said that around 70 Japanese nationals are currently at risk in South Sudan, with more than 40 currently stranded in the capital Juba, due to fierce gun battles between pro-government troops and opposition forces.

The Japanese Embassy there has confirmed, however, that currently all of its nationals have been accounted for, although the situation is growing more precarious.

At a press conference earlier in the day, the government's top spokesperson, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, said that of the 70 nationals, around 50 were in the region working for the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as aid workers. Endit