Japan's Nagasaki on Friday marked the 68th anniversary of the US nuclear bombing of the city, with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe vowing to push forward for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Representatives from 44 countries attended the ceremony held in the city's Peace Park and participants offered silence prayers for the victims at 11:02 a.m. local time, when the bomb hit Nagasaki.

Abe pledged again that his country will make efforts for the abolition of nuclear weapons, as he did three days ago in Hiroshima commemorating the 1945 nuclear bombing of the city.

However, Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue criticized the Japanese government for its recent inaction in opposing nuclear weapons, referring to Japan's failure to sign a statement rejecting the use of nuclear weapons.

"I call on the Japanese government to consider once again that Japan is the only country to have suffered a nuclear bombing," local media quoted the mayor as saying.

To end the World War II, the United States dropped two atomic bombs in Japan's Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug. 6 and 9 respectively. About 74,000 people were killed in Nagasaki in the blast.