Jiji Press
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
The government will send a Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer to join an international fleet combating piracy off Somalia, Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said Tuesday.
At a press conference, Onodera said the MSDF’s ongoing antipiracy mission in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia will be extended by one year, adding that one of two destroyers engaged in the mission will join Combined Task Force 151.
The government is expected to approve the extension at a Cabinet meeting soon. The move comes as acts of piracy are increasing in the area. The mission is currently scheduled to end on July 23.
(Jiji Press)