US begins marine transfer to Guam from Okinawa Japan

ANKARA

The US on Saturday started to transfer its Marine Corps troops from the Japanese southern island province of Okinawa to Guam, according to local media.

Guam is a key strategic location in the Indo-Pacific, where a third of the island's land is owned by the US military.

The Marine transfer has begun as agreed between the US and Japan, with the first batch involving 100 logistics personnel, Kyodo News Agency reported, citing the US military statement.

"Commencement of relocation to Guam signifies the first phase of relocating Marines to locations outside of Japan," said the US military.

"Under a plan agreed upon in 2012, over 4,000 of the approximately 19,000 Marines currently in Okinawa will be moved to the U.S. island territory in the Pacific," it added.

Okinawa, which hosts 31 US military-exclusive facilities covering 70.3% of such sites nationwide by land area, is home to roughly half of the 50,000 US troops deployed in Japan under a bilateral security pact.

The US military further said that relocations will take place in a phased approach, and no unit headquarters will be moving during this iteration.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid