NAHA, Japan -- A U.S. military serviceman is accused of raping a Filipino woman on the island of Okinawa, further straining U.S.-Japan relations, it was reported Thursday.
The allegations, which occurred before a curfew was imposed on the tens of thousands of U.S. troops, their families and civilians working for the military on Okinawa, extend a string of recent incidents involving U.S. troops stationed on the island, the BBC said
The first complaint involved the alleged rape of a 14-year-old school girl. Other incidents involved a drunken soldier found asleep on a couch in a house he had invaded and another soldier arrested for drunken driving.
The curfew is aimed at keeping U.S. personnel from drinking in off-base bars and getting into trouble. Last year, 46 U.S. military personnel were arrested on criminal charges in Okinawa, down more than 50 percent from five years earlier.
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