A fleet of Air Self-Defense Force aircraft selected to transport relief supplies to refugees entering Pakistan from neighboring Afghanistan will leave Japan this week at the earliest, government sources said Monday.
The ASDF C-130 transport planes will be dispatched by the government in accordance with the Law Concerning Cooperation for United Nations Peace Keeping Operations and Other Operations. The law states that the SDF cannot be deployed to an area experiencing conflict.
A government advance team arrived Sunday in Pakistan to prepare for the dispatch of the aircraft and was scheduled to complete inspections of the airport and other facilities in Islamabad on Monday.