Two Air Self-Defense Force C-130 transport aircraft carrying 41 Self-Defense Force members departed Thursday morning for Jordan to help airlift relief supplies for the Iraqi people, government officials said.
The 41 SDF members will be joined by 49 others who are traveling on a commercial airline, the officials said.
Japan is sending the service members to help transport the relief goods to Iraq under a law that allows the SDF to cooperate in U.N. peacekeeping operations, following a request by the World Food Program, the officials said. The service members themselves will not actually enter the country.