Japanese troops exchange fire with live rounds during drill by mistake
The incident resulted in two injuries - but not from bullets
Nine Japanese troops shot as many as 79 live rounds at one another by mistake in an exercise in Hokkaido.
Two of the Ground Self-Defence Force (GSD members, a sergeant in his 30s and a leading private in his 20s, sustained minor injuries when their equipment malfunctioned because they were using the incorrect ammunition. No one was hit by the bullets, according to the headquarters of the ground force’s Northern Army.
The assault rifles used in the exercise were supposed to fire blanks and the GSDF will investigate how the live rounds got to be used.
The exercise, simulating an ambush, took place at the Shikaribetsu Training Area in the town of Shikaoi. All nine members involved in the exchange used Type 89 5.56-millimetre assault rifles, according to the GSDF.
In a typical exercise, bullets are handed to each troop just before the drill, and they are then loaded into their rifles. Troops should not have trouble distinguishing between live rounds and blanks because they look different, according to the GSDF.