The Air Self-Defense Force transport unit completed its Kuwait-Iraq airlift mission Friday after logging 821 flights during its four years and nine months in the region, the Defense Ministry said.
The completion marks the end of Japan's humanitarian and reconstruction efforts in Iraq that began almost five years ago in the wake of the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
ASDF passenger aircraft carrying many of the personnel in the unit will return to Japan from Kuwait on Dec. 23, while three C-130H cargo planes deployed for the mission are expected to arrive back in the country starting next week, the ministry said.
After issuing the order to end the mission Friday, Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada thanked via a video link Col. Yasuji Kitamura, who leads the transport unit, for the service his unit provided.
"I'm pleased that the transport mission has been completed safely. Please return to Japan in good spirits," Hamada said.
An ASDF withdrawal unit is already at Kuwait's Ali Al Salem Air Base, out of which the transport unit operated, to complete the pullout by the end of March.