Reuters: Small explosion near U.S. base in Japan
A small explosion was heard near a U.S. military base in Japan but there were no reports of any injuries, a police spokesman said early on Tuesday. Police searched the area near the U.S. Army's Camp Zama base southwest of Tokyo and found two pipes about 300 meters from the base, the spokesman said, adding they were investigating the incident. In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman, U.S. Air Force Major David Smith, said the explosion had not been on the base itself and there were no reports of any injuries. He said there had also been reports that some flares had been seen in the area of the base at around the same time. The base is about 25 miles southwest of Tokyo. Japan's Kyodo news agency quoted police as saying the pipes may have been used to launch a small bomb at the base. A similar incident occurred in November 2002, when two homemade rockets were launched toward Camp Zama from near the same park. Kyodo said the explosion was heard by a resident near the camp at around 11 p.m.