「海外有事」想定し、邦人輸送訓練　アフガン派遣受け刷新―防衛省

　防衛省は６日、海外の在留邦人を自衛隊機で退避させることを想定した輸送訓練を、北海道八雲町の航空自衛隊八雲分屯基地で公開した。昨年アフガニスタンに空自輸送機を派遣した経験を踏まえ、内容を刷新。外務省とも連携し、保護対象者の警護や身元照会の流れを実戦形式で確認した。
　防衛省は昨年８月、米軍の撤退表明で混乱したアフガンの首都カブールから空自輸送機で邦人１人を含む１５人を輸送。ただ、情報収集不足や派遣判断の遅れなどの問題点も指摘された。
　訓練は仮想国で武装勢力が蜂起し、在留邦人の退避が必要になったという想定。防衛省や各基地など複数部署が連携した実際の流れに沿うシミュレーション形式で、こうした訓練は初という。（2022/09/06-16:40）

Japan's Defense Ministry conducted a drill Tuesday to transport people in preparation for a possible evacuation of Japanese nationals abroad using Self-Defense Forces aircraft in the future.
   The drill, held partly at the Air SDF's Yakumo Sub Base in the town of Yakumo in the northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido, incorporated the lessons learned from the SDF's mission to evacuate people in Afghanistan, where the Taliban seized power last year, such as working with the Foreign Ministry to guard those subject to protection and check their identities.
   In August 2021, the Defense Ministry evacuated a Japanese national and 14 others out of the Afghan capital of Kabul using an ASDF transporter, following confusion triggered by the U.S. military's withdrawal from the country. But the government was criticized for problems such as insufficient information-gathering and a delay in deciding the dispatch of aircraft.
   The exercise was based on the scenario that an armed uprising has occurred in a hypothetical country, and that Japanese expatriates need to be evacuated.
   It was conducted in a simulation format based on the actual flow of events and involving cooperation between the Defense Ministry and multiple SDF bases. This was the first such drill.