|
|
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
US, RP troops to undergo training amid offensive v. Sayyaf (3:10 p.m.)
MANILA -- Thousands of US and Philippine troops will begin two weeks of exercises next month focusing on Jolo Island, where a US-backed offensive killed the country's two most wanted terror suspects, officials said.
The annual war games, called as "Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder)," usually bring 3,000-5,000 US troops to the Philippines. But they were canceled last year amidst a custody dispute over a US Marine convicted of raping a Filipino woman.
After the Philippines agreed to a US demand to hand over rape convict US Marine Daniel Smith to the American Embassy during his appeal, Washington said the exercise could go ahead.
The embassy said the maneuvers, which have helped train Filipino soldiers in counter-terrorism, particularly in the South where al-Qaida-linked militants are active, will take place Feb. 14 to March 4, 2007.
The military training has proven crucial for Philippine troops, which announced over the weekend they had killed Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani in a jungle clash in Jolo in September. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) test results confirmed Janjalani's death on Saturday, the military said.
Days earlier, US-trained Philippine Army men gunned down Abu Sulaiman, a veteran Abu Sayyaf guerrilla who was seen as a possible successor to Janjalani.
Janjalani and Abu Sulaiman were accused of plotting the kidnapping of American and Filipino tourists in a resort in Palawan in 2001, during which one of the Americans was beheaded, as well as a 2004 ferry blast that killed 116 persons in Manila.
The 2001 kidnapping spree by the Abu Sayyaf brought the first American troops to the southern part of the Philippines. They have since maintained presence in Southern Zamboanga City and nearby Jolo Island, the hotbed of Muslim militants, although the nature of the Balikatan exercise has changed slightly to include humanitarian operations as part of efforts to win over the local population.
The embassy said this year's exercise will include medical, dental, veterinary, and engineering projects by Filipino and US personnel in Mindanao as well as military training. (AP) |
|
|
|
