Japanese police investigate projectile launch near US base

Tokyo: Japanese police said they were investigating a possible attack on a US Army base near Tokyo after finding a pair of launchers and a projectile today following reports of explosions in the vicinity.

Two iron pipes planted into the ground and aimed at Camp Zama were found about 800 meters (half a mile) southwest of the base, which sits near a residential area and an elementary school, police said.

No injuries or damage were immediately reported from the incident and police were investigating.

Police found the pipes after a resident reported hearing three explosions in the area in the early hours of today.

Investigators later found a projectile at another field nearby that was believed to have been fired at the base from one of the launchers.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is on a weeklong tour of the United States, where the two sides agreed late yesterday to a revision of defence guidelines that would boost the Japanese military's role in bilateral cooperation amid China's growing assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region.