Self-Defense Forces troops deployed to Samawah, southern Iraq, are in a quandary: They want to meet local demand for more aid, but deteriorating security conditions are hindering their efforts to work harder.

"I think they are changing," Hajime Massaki, chief of staff of the Ground Self-Defense Force, told reporters Thursday when asked for his evaluation of local expectations for his troops.

"I'd like to boost the trust of local people through more PR activities and by accelerating the pace of humanitarian activities."

A Samawah weekly reported Wednesday that 51 percent of residents in al-Muthanna Province, of which Samawah is the capital, who were interviewed in March and April said they were not content with the work of the GSDF there.

In a local poll in January, conducted before the GSDF troops arrived in Samawah, 86 percent of respondents said they would welcome the GSDF.

Massaki also said that Col. Masahisa Sato, commander of the Iraq contingent, has started receiving frustrated calls from tribal chiefs asking when they are going to receive a helping hand.

The 560 GSDF troops started providing medical, water purification and reconstruction aid in mid-February.

But they have primarily stayed within their 1-sq.-km fortified camp since early April, as security conditions have deteriorated. Their activities are now virtually limited to water purification services carried out within the camp.

On April 8, three shells -- thought to be a smoke bomb and two mortar rounds -- landed near the GSDF camp in Samawah.

This was followed by a gunfight between Dutch troops and apparent locals.

More rounds were fired Thursday morning at the Dutch camp, which is about 5 km away from the GSDF camp. There were no immediate reports of casualties from Thursday's incident.

Vice Defense Minister Takemasa Moriya admitted Thursday: "The security in Samawah continues to be unpredictable, and the possibility of a terrorist attack can't be ruled out."

However, the Defense Agency maintains that Samawah is "relatively safe" compared with other parts of Iraq, saying these incidents do not pose a threat to the GSDF activities there.

The special law allowing the deployment of the GSDF to Iraq, enacted in July, says the GSDF can operate only in "noncombat zones."

From the beginning, there were strong concerns among some GSDF members that their mission would disappoint local people, who had high expectations.

"We are working in al-Muthanna, hoping our mission would lead to a wider aid mechanism (by Japan) that involves official development assistance and private companies," Massaki said Monday at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan.

However, these prospects are unlikely to be realized anytime soon due to the security situation in Samawah.

Most of the 560 troops in Samawah are expected to be replaced by a second contingent soon. Sato is now in Japan to coordinate the rotation.

"If we do not provide the service, that would disappoint local people and might affect our security in the end," Sato was quoted by Massaki as saying.

80 airmen return home

NAGOYA (Kyodo) About 80 Air Self-Defense Force airmen returned to Japan on Thursday as part of a force rotation after a three-month mission in Kuwait to help with U.S.-led reconstruction efforts in Iraq.