Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka on Monday suggested Japan may provide additional financial support to Pakistan as well as other countries bordering Afghanistan to help them deal with refugees from the conflict-torn country.

"As of now, the main area of our bilateral financial assistance is Pakistan. But I'm sure there will be deliberations in the Cabinet" on aiding other countries bordering Afghanistan, Tanaka told a news conference.

Her remarks came after the United States and Britain launched retaliatory air and missile strikes on Afghanistan on Sunday night, raising the probability that thousands of refugees will flee to such neighboring nations as Tajikistan and Iran.

Foreign Ministry officials have said they are considering assistance but have not yet finalized anything. Afghanistan also shares borders with Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and China.

Japan has pledged 4.7 billion yen to Pakistan -- 3 billion yen in economic assistance and 1.7 billion yen to help Afghan refugees -- in addition to financial contributions it has already made to U.N.-related organizations and Japanese nongovernmental organizations.

Tanaka also said she ordered Japan's embassies and other overseas establishments worldwide to ensure the safety of Japanese nationals immediately after the U.S. and British strikes commenced.

Tanaka said there are still six Japanese in Afghanistan and 405 in Pakistan, including 65 government-affiliated personnel and 298 permanent residents.

Of those in Afghanistan, five are employees of media companies and one is a member of a nongovernmental organization. In addition, there are 42 Japanese on short stays in Pakistan for purposes such as mountain climbing, Tanaka said.

The Foreign Ministry's travel advisory for Afghanistan remains at five -- its highest level. It recommends Japanese nationals there leave the country as soon as possible and others not to go there at all.

The ministry also issued an evacuation order to Japanese nationals residing or traveling in areas close to Afghanistan and Iraq after the strikes began.

Its latest advisory raised the danger level for areas within 100 km of Afghanistan's borders to maximum alert.

It also gave Iraq, which is critical of U.S. policy toward Afghanistan's ruling Taliban regime, a level-five danger listing.

Tanaka said she ordered the heads of Japanese embassies, consulates general and other offices to take the initiative in promptly informing local Japanese citizens about the advisories and crisis management.

She also suggested the government may dispatch Self-Defense Forces aircraft to evacuate Japanese from dangerous areas if the need arises.

The ministry issued a renewed warning to all Japanese abroad to exercise caution and take into account the possibility that the military strikes could prompt terrorists to target places such as Japanese diplomatic establishments in those two countries.

Tanaka insecurely in the dark

Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka complained Monday that she was not receiving enough information about the U.S.-led attack on Afghanistan.

"(The Foreign Ministry's) North American Affairs Bureau Director General Ichiro Fujisaki telephoned me around 1:15 a.m. and told me the strikes would begin in about two or three hours. I don't know why no one is giving me more information," she said after arriving at the Prime Minister's Official Residence for an emergency Cabinet meeting.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell contacted Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi by telephone shortly before the strike began around 1:30 a.m. Japan time to inform him of the imminent launch.

The Japanese government has reportedly virtually excluded Tanaka from the country's diplomatic process since she divulged to reporters what was supposed to be secret information about the whereabouts of U.S. State Department personnel shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks. They had been evacuated to a secure location.