More than 250 people filed a lawsuit Thursday with the Saitama District Court to challenge the constitutionality of an antiterrorism law that allows the Self-Defense Forces to lend noncombat support to the U.S.-led military campaign against terrorism.

According to the plaintiffs' lawyers, it is the first civil suit to seek nullification of the law, which was enacted Oct. 29 in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

The plaintiffs argue the law violates the Constitution's recognition of the right of people around the world to live in peace and its renunciation of war as a means of settling international disputes.

"The SDF activities under the antiterrorism law should be considered military activities and an exercise of collective defense, as they have enabled the U.S.-led forces to maintain military action," the suit says.