A truck belonging to a private firm that was carrying goods for Japanese troops based in Samawa in southern Iraq has been attacked, Japanese news agencies reported today.
The reports said the truck was headed for Samawa from Kuwait. Jiji news agency said an Iraqi had been killed. No further details were immediately available.
One Japanese government official said that he understood that the vehicle had not been traveling in a Japanese military convoy. Another official said an Iraqi had been wounded.
No Japanese soldier has fired a shot or been killed in combat since World War Two. Critics of the dispatch say it violates Japan's pacifist constitution and the government has been worried about a possible backlash among the public if casualties occur.
Earlier today, Japan's deployment of a 550-member contingent of ground troops was completed with the arrival of a the remaining 120 troops from Kuwait, Kyodo news agency says.