SDF plane to transport medicines to quake-hit Myanmar

The plane is scheduled to arrive Wednesday in Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city, near the epicenter of the March 28 magnitude 7.7 quake, to deliver the items to a Japanese medical team before returning to Japan, according to the Defense Ministry. The decision to dispatch comes as safety concerns linger even after Myanmar's ruling military, which toppled the democratically elected government in the February 2021 coup, declared Wednesday a temporary cease-fire in its civil war against ethnic minority groups amid continuing relief work. Nakatani said he believes the SDF can transport the goods to Myanmar safely, and he did not think the local situation was worsening.