The first contingent of Ground Self-Defense Force troops returned home on Wednesday from South Sudan as Japan ended its five-year participation in a U.N. peacekeeping mission in the African country.

A group of about 70 personnel from the 350-member unit arrived at a GSDF camp in the city of Aomori, where their division is based, after leaving the conflict-torn nation on Monday.

"I am relieved that we have been able to return safely," said Maj. Kiwamu Ishii, as families and other GSDF members welcomed the troops at the camp. He said the security situation in the South Sudan capital of Juba, where Japanese troops have been based, is "stable."