TOKYO: Japan will send an Air Self-Defense Force transport plane to Djibouti Friday afternoon to prepare for the evacuation of Japanese nationals from nearby Sudan, where rival forces are fighting, Japanese Defense Minister HAMADA Yasukazu said.

The C-130 transport plane will fly from the ASDF’s Komaki Air Base in the central Japan prefecture of Aichi, Hamada told a press conference. A C-2 transport plane and a KC-767 aerial refueling and transport aircraft will also be sent to Djibouti as soon as they are ready.

On Thursday night, five SDF liaison coordinators headed for Djibouti, east of Sudan, on a commercial flight. They will collect information and work out evacuation routes and other details of the mission.

In Sudan, fighting between the country’s regular military and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group has escalated, causing many casualties.

Hamada said the government is considering multiple options including using SDF vehicles to transport Japanese nationals in Sudan to an airport in the northeastern African country.

In Sudan, there are about 60 Japanese nationals, including nongovernmental organization officials, staff of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, or JICA, and their families, according to the Japanese government.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told a press conference Friday that that the government has so far received no reports of any Japanese nationals being injured in the fighting in Sudan.

On Thursday, Hamada issued an order to send an SDF transportation unit to Djibouti to get ready for the evacuation mission.

Japan has an SDF base in Djibouti for operations against pirates in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia.