Japan hosts multinational drills to intercept WMDs at sea

Japanese navy sailors took part in a multinational exercise “Pacific Shield 18” on Wednesday off Tokyo’s southern coast to practice intercepting weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) at sea, AP reported. Destroyers and surveillance aircraft, as well as coastguard ships from Japan, the US, South Korea and Australia, also participated in the maneuvers, part of the Proliferation Security Initiative. The exercise off the coast of the Boso Peninsula, southeast of Japan’s capital, simulated the halting of ships suspected of carrying materials related to WMDs to conduct inventory checks.