Three US Troops Arrested in Japan's Okinawa for Damaging Local Police Cars - Reports

TOKYO (Sputnik) - Three US servicemen have been arrested in Japan's southern Okinawa province for allegedly attacking and damaging local police vehicles, Kyodo reported.

According to the Kyodo news agency, on Sunday night  US Navy troops attacked a police car and broke the windshield of another police car near the resort town of Onna.

All three troops were intoxicated when arrested. The Pentagon has yet to comment on the reports.

US helicopters and planes parked at Futenma US Marine Base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture (File)

© AFP 2023 / TORU YAMANAKA

Okinawa, which accounts for less than 1 per cent of Japan's territory, hosts over 30 US military installations — more than 70 per cent of their total number in Japan — and nearly a half of the approximately round 50,000 US forces deployed in the country.

The presence of the US military has repeatedly caused protests by local authorities, which urged Washington to relocate the base. At the same time, a referendum held in 2018 showed that 70 per cent of local voters opposed the creation of a new US base in the prefecture.