TOKYO, July 8: The US military in Japan on Friday put troops at the biggest US base in Asia under a night curfew after outrage on the southern island of Okinawa over a serviceman’s sexual assault of a young girl.

The 23,000 residents of Kadena Air Base, who include civilians, will be required to be on site or in off-base quarters from 1:00 am to 6:00 am until further notice, a military statement said.

“The standdown is in response to a heightened number of safety and disciplinary incidents during the past year, most of which occur between 1:00 and 6:00 am,” the statement said.

It said Kadena’s leadership wanted all members of the base to “serve as good ambassadors of the United States and always uphold high standards of conduct and discipline, on base and off base, on duty and off duty.”

On Sunday 27-year-old Air Force technical sergeant Armando Valdez was arrested by Japanese police for forcing a 10-year-old girl to roll up her shirt, fondling her breasts and taking pictures of her with his cellphone.—AFP