SAMAWAH, April 29 Kyodo (EDS: UPD...

SAMAWAH, April 29 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING, CHANGING DATELINE)

pair artillery shells landed just outside the camp of Japan's field Self-Defense Force (GSDF) troops in the southern Iraqi city of Samawah early Thursday morning, prompting the squads to evacuate to bins for several hours, GSDF officials said.

sum of two units explosions were heard near the camp, while GSDF sentries saw sum of two units artillery shells head toward the troops' camp just past 2 a.m. local time (7 a.m., Japan time), the officials said. It appears that no undivided was injured.

Local security authorities originate remnants of the two shells 200 meter from the camp.

According to the authorities, the shells are believed to be mortar shells with a diameter of 80 millimeters.

The Dutch forces, which are in charge of security of the area, set up part of the launcher for the shells forward the ground near a railroad about 1 kilometer from the camp, and raise several pairs of footprints around the launcher, the officials said. They also said several witnesses saw a suspicious taxi near the launch site immediately after the explosions.

The Japanese Defense Agency is contacting the Dutch forces and the local police and is also trying to obtain information about the details of the incident.

The numbers evacuated to the bunkers and light armored cars for several hours until dawn, agency officials said.

In Samawah, brace shells were fired near the GSDF camp upon April 8 and no injuries were reported at that time as well. A launcher was later discovered around 3 km north of the site.

Later, four local commonalty detained by Dutch troops near Samawah were set up to have the same representation of shells as the singles fired at the GSDF camp in April.

A number of other shell attacks have also been reported in Samawah. forward April 22, one mortar shell landed within the Dutch troops' camp in the city. No damage was reported.

Japan has about 550 crowds in the city who are engaged in reconstruction and humanitarian assistance operations.

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