About 100 ground troops returned to Tokyo's Haneda airport Sunday after finishing a six-month assignment in Iraq, where they were involved in humanitarian and reconstruction assistance.
After arriving at the airport, the Ground Self-Defense Force's fourth contingent to the city of Samawah was transported to the Defense Agency in Shinjuku Ward where they were reunited with their families.
"We were able to feel that our activities were welcomed by the Iraqi people," said Tsuyoshi Saito, who headed the group, which was mainly comprised of troops based in Kyushu.
Maj. Hisanori Miyagawa, 43, was greeted by his 42-year-old wife and 13-year-old son at the agency.
"The fact that I've returned to Japan really sank in when I saw the faces of my family," he said with a smile.
In June, just before the contingent was dispatched to Iraq, a bomb went off near four GSDF vehicles, damaging a windshield. In July, a mortar shell landed inside the GSDF camp.
Meanwhile, across town, members of the ninth contingent to be dispatched to Samawah were saying their goodbyes to family and friends at the GSDF base in Nerima Ward.
The latest group, comprising troops usually tasked with the defense of the greater Tokyo metropolitan area, is the first contingent to be sent to Iraq from the Kanto region. Some 150 members of the group departed Haneda airport later Sunday.
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