Japan to send aircraft ans warships to Middle East

Japan’s government has announced that it will send a warship and patrol planes to protect Japanese ships in the Middle East as the situation in the region, from which it sources nearly 90% of its crude oil imports, remains volatile.
The rare overseas deployment, which will be limited to intelligence-gathering, is meant to ensure the “security” of Japanese merchant ships and help maintain “peace and stability” in the region, the cabinet office said in a statement.
The decision follows a series of attacks on oil tankers in the region, one of which was Japanese-operated.
The deployment will include one destroyer, equipped with helicopters, and at least one of two P-3C patrol planes currently engaged in antipiracy operations near Somalia.