PHILIPPINES: U.S. AND PHILIPPINES TROOPS BEGIN A MONTH OF COMBAT TRAINING BY PARACHUTING INTO A FORMER U.S. BASE NEAR MANILA
Record ID:
863948
PHILIPPINES: U.S. AND PHILIPPINES TROOPS BEGIN A MONTH OF COMBAT TRAINING BY PARACHUTING INTO A FORMER U.S. BASE NEAR MANILA
- Title: PHILIPPINES: U.S. AND PHILIPPINES TROOPS BEGIN A MONTH OF COMBAT TRAINING BY PARACHUTING INTO A FORMER U.S. BASE NEAR MANILA
- Date: 27th January 2003
- Summary: (U3) CLARK, PHILIPPINES (JANUARY 27, 2003) (REUTERS) MV: U.S. MILITARY OFFICIALS IN FRONT OF A HELICOPTER VARIOUS OF FILIPINO SOLDIERS PREPARING PARACHUTE PRIOR TO JUMP (3 SHOTS) SLV: SIGN READING "AIR FORCE CITY" SV: FILIPINO PARATROOPERS IN FRONT OF U.S. AIR FORCE MC-130 MILITARY PLANE VARIOUS: AMERICAN AND FILIPINO PARATROOPERS PARACHUTE FROM MILITARY PLANE; OFFICIALS LOOKING ON (5 SHOTS) SV'S/SCU/SLV: AMERICAN SOLDIERS RETRIEVE PARACHUTES (4 SHOTS) CU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) MICHAEL FARRIS, BALANCE PISTON SPOKESPERSON SAYING: "One of the hallmarks of U.S. special operations is the ability to gather our stuff, get up, and get out of town and we're prepared to that, and if we need to do that, we can. We do not anticipate that, We are here to garner some great training with our Philippine counterparts and that is what we are focused on." SV'S: AMERICAN PARATROOPERS BOARDING TRUCK (2 SHOTS) SV'S/WS: AIR FORCE CEREMONY (3 SHOTS)
- Embargoed: 11th February 2003 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: CLARK, PHILIPPINES
- City:
- Country: Philippines
- Topics: Defence / Military
- Reuters ID: LVAECRM53JLEK9SZUVLP3KG8YOV3
- Aspect Ratio:
- Story Text: U.S. and Philippine troops have kicked off a month of combat training by parachuting on to a former U.S. base near Manila as the United States warned it was ready to act alone in a war against Iraq.
Filipino soldiers battling a variety of leftist and Muslim rebel groups are being trained in counter-terrorism in separate exercises in the south of the country.
The U.S. military denied the drills at Clark, a former American air base north of Manila, were linked to the U.S.-led war on terror or the growing tensions in the Middle East.
About 500 U.S. special forces are taking part in the training at Clark and the Philippine army's Fort Magsaysay camp. Besides parachute jumps from U.S. planes, the sessions include mountaineering, close-quarter combat and jungle survival.
Other U.S. special forces units have arrived to begin the second phase of counter-terrorism exercises aimed at upgrading the skills of Filipino troops fighting Muslim guerrillas linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.
That training will be held in the jungles of the southern Philippines, where the Abu Sayyaf group has held three Indonesian seamen and four Filipina evangelists hostage for months.
The presence of U.S. troops and the escalating risks of a war in Iraq prompted dozens of leftist youths to burn the American flag in a protest outside the U.S. embassy on Monday (January 27). - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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