Japan will withdraw Ground Self-Defense Force troops conducting reconstruction assistance in East Timor, following the end of the mandate for the U.N. peacekeeping mission there May 20, government officials said Monday.
The roughly 400-strong GSDF contingent dispatched to take part in the peacekeeping operations in the Southeast Asian nation will start pulling out later this month and return to Japan in mid-June.
The peacekeeping operations in East Timor are part of the U.N. Mission of Support in East Timor, which was established by the U.N. Security Council to provide assistance for political stability, law enforcement and public security in East Timor starting May 20, 2002.