About 140 Air Self-Defense Force troops stationed in Kuwait for Japan's airlift mission for Iraq returned to Japan on Tuesday.
They are the last batch of airmen to return from the Iraq mission over the past several days. With their homecoming, Japan's mission in Iraq is largely concluded after four years and eight months.
"No one could predict what would happen next in Baghdad (in terms of security), but we were focused on the mission," said their commanding officer, ASDF Col. Yasuji Kitamura.