TOKYO: US troopers stationed on Japan’s Okinawa have been given a month-long curfew and banned from ingesting alcohol whereas they endure self-discipline coaching after a Marine was alleged to have murdered and robbed a local woman.
Lance Corporal Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, is suspected of killing Anna Yagi, 39, in a lodge in Naha, the capital of the southernmost prefecture, on Saturday (Oct 3) and taking her pockets and backpack. Ballard denied the allegations, police stated.
The case is the most recent in a string of incidents stretching again years which have fuelled unease over the massive US troop presence on the island chain close to Taiwan and China, with US officers warning it may undermine ties very important to safety in East Asia.
“Each interplay with our neighbours both builds or undermines the belief that’s important to our workforce. When that belief is broken, it impacts the power of our alliance and the safety of this area,” Lt Gen Benjamin Watson stated in an announcement on Tuesday ordering the measures.
All US navy operations on Okinawa will probably be paused for 48 hours whereas troops endure coaching on requirements and self-discipline, Watson added.
“BRUTAL AND HEINOUS”
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi known as Saturday’s killing “extraordinarily brutal and heinous”. She stated she had strongly protested to the United States and demanded measures to stop such incidents sooner or later.
Yagi died of asphyxiation after Ballard allegedly “pressed on her neck,” police instructed the Stars and Stripes newspaper.
