MIYAZAKI (Kyodo) Three of the estimated 2,800 Japanese ground troops once stationed in southern Iraq on a reconstruction mission committed suicide between early 2004 and last summer after rotating home, Defense Agency officials said Thursday.
A spokesman for the Ground Self-Defense Force's Ground Staff Office said: "It's uncertain whether the suicides had something to do with their Iraq mission. We will not reveal details because of their privacy."
During the 18-month period under review, approximately 2,800 ground troops returned home after completing their missions in southern Iraq, the officials said.
The total consists of about 2,500 personnel from the first to fifth contingents. The first contingent was drawn mainly from units in Hokkaido and the fifth from the 10th Division in Nagoya. The remaining 300 troops, also mainly from Hokkaido and Nagoya, were engaged in liaison and support missions.
Meanwhile, the number of GSDF members who committed suicide during fiscal 2004 to March 2005 came to 64. At present, the GSDF totals about 147,000 members.
A simple comparison shows the suicide rate of those returning from Iraq is higher.
To ease stress caused by fears about terrorism in Iraq, the GSDF has dispatched psychiatric experts to Samawah to conduct counseling.