US troops hit with month-long curfew and booze ban after Marine accused of murder

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U.S. troops stationed on Japan’s Okinawa have been slapped with a month-long curfew and alcohol ban after a Marine was accused of killing and robbing a local woman.

Lance Cpl. Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, is suspected of killing Anna Yagi, 39, at a hotel in Naha on Saturday and taking her wallet and backpack, according to police. Ballard has denied the allegations.

All U.S. military operations on Okinawa will also pause for 48 hours while personnel undergo training on standards and discipline.

“Every interaction with our neighbors either builds or undermines the trust that is essential to our team,” Lt. Gen. Benjamin Watson said Tuesday.

“When that trust is damaged, it affects the strength of our alliance and the security of this region.”

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi described Yagi’s killing as “extremely brutal and heinous” and said she had protested to the U.S. and demanded measures to prevent similar incidents.

Police told Stars and Stripes that Yagi died from asphyxiation after Ballard allegedly pressed on her neck.

Hotel staff found Yagi unconscious in her room early Saturday after she failed to check out. Local media reported that about 200 officers joined a search for a man seen on surveillance footage entering the hotel with her.

The case has sparked protests in Naha and Tokyo and renewed anger over the large U.S. military presence on Okinawa.

Japan hosts the largest contingent of U.S. forces stationed overseas, with most of the roughly 18,000 Marines based in Japan located on Okinawa.

The U.S. military presence has long generated tensions over noise, accidents and crimes involving personnel. The 1995 rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by three U.S. servicemen triggered mass protests.

Okinawa’s strategic location near Taiwan has made the island central to U.S. and Japanese efforts to deter potential Chinese military action in the region.

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