U.S. forces in Japan said Wednesday they will expand nighttime curfew patrols in Okinawa to cover the prefectural capital of Naha, where a U.S. serviceman was arrested for allegedly trespassing in a building last Sunday.
Following the alleged rape of a Japanese woman by two U.S. Navy sailors in mid-October, the U.S. forces imposed a curfew between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. on all service personnel in Japan and have conducted courtesy patrols in the city of Okinawa and town of Chatan close to the U.S. Air Force's Kadena base.
The arrest of the serviceman in Naha on Sunday has prompted the U.S. forces to expand the courtesy patrols.
Three teams of four individuals in civilian clothes representing all branches of the services will conduct patrols in Naha between 10 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. to ensure strict compliance with the curfew.