LOC09:52
06:52 GMT
TOKYO, Nov 7 (KUNA) -- The Japanese government decided on Tuesday to extend the dispatch of four Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) to the Sinai Peninsula in eastern Egypt on a multinational peacekeeping mission by another year, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday.
The extension, until the end of November next year, was approved at a Cabinet meeting earlier, the ministry said in a statement.
Since April 2019, Japan has dispatched GSDF members to the command of the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) on the Sinai Peninsula, which monitors the ceasefire in the Egypt-Israel border zone.
At the MFO command in Sharm El-Sheikh, currently four GSDF officers are engaged in liaison and coordination duties between the Egyptian and Israeli and forces as well as the maintenance of facilities, according to the ministry.
The MFO is an independent international organization, created by agreement between Egypt and Israel, with peacekeeping responsibilities in the Sinai.
On Tuesday, the Cabinet also decided to extend the Maritime Self-Defense Force's antipiracy operations in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia by one year, through November 2024, the ministry said. (end)
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