Japan to dispatch 270 sailors to Middle East

Cabinet set to pass deployment plan this month as US prepares similar operation

20191204 Japan Marine Self Defense Force

At a previous departure ceremony, Maritime Self-Defense Force sailors stand in formation near the escort ship Makinami at Sasebo Port in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. © Kyodo

RIEKO MIKI, Nikkei staff writer

TOKYO -- The Japanese government plans to send 270 sailors from the Maritime Self-Defense Force to the northern Arabian Sea, which leads to the critical Gulf of Oman and narrow Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb.

The cabinet is to pass the deployment plan by the end of this year. It will likely then renew the plan on an annual basis.

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