Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Gov't, US troops to undergo joint training on Basilan (6:20 p.m.)
MANILA -- Government and US troops will conduct a new round of training on Basilan island where a joint counterterrorism exercise three years ago was credited with crippling an al-Qaida-linked terror group, a military spokesman said Wednesday.
The "Balance Piston 05-3" exercise will involve about 30 personnel from the 1st Battalion of the 1st US Special Forces Group based in Okinawa, Japan, and about 225 Philippine army soldiers, said spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Buenaventura Pascual.
The training will take place on Basilan, a former stronghold of the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf, about 880 kilometers (550 miles) south of Manila.
The Abu Sayyaf, which on the US list of terror organizations, was the target of a six-month US counterterrorism exercise in 2001. It spurred intense operations that have largely crippled the militants.
Pascual said the new training, which will start late this month, will include advanced combat operations, lifesaving, combat marksmanship and small unit tactics.
Most of the Philippine soldiers will come from army units deployed to the south, he said.
Captaint Dennis Williams, the U.S. military spokesman in Manila, said the training will last several weeks. Other details will be announced later, he said.
The Philippines and the United States conduct about 26 military exercises in the country every year, but the scope, scale, objectives, duration and venue are determined by the Philippine military, Williams said. (AP)
(March 17, 2005 issue)
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