The Ground Self-Defense Force troops deployed to the city of Samawah in southern Iraq will commence their humanitarian aid mission later this month.

"We have at last reached this point. It is the beginning of a long struggle," GSDF Chief of Staff Hajime Massaki told a news conference Thursday, commenting ahead of the first anniversary of the March 20, 2003, launch of the U.S.-led war on Iraq.

He described the past year as "tumultuous" for the Self-Defense Forces, saying he had never dreamed a year ago that the SDF would actually partake in a reconstruction mission on Iraqi soil.