First the Australians, next are the Singaporeans.
Forty members of the elite members of the Philippine Army’s
Special Operations Command were sent to Singapore for a two week military operation and urban
training.
There was a standing offer from the Singaporean government
during the height of the Marawi crisis to provide much needed urban training
for the Philippine troops in their very own counter terror facility in
Singapore. *
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| members of the Philippine Army's Special Operations in Singapore for another round of urban warfare training( photo credit to Strait Times) |
The training comes after after the second batch of Filipino
soldiers just graduated from the Australian led urban training that was held in
Camp Capinpin, Tanay, Rizal. There were 110 troops that participated in that
training.
According to Army spokesperson Lt. Col. Ray Tiongson, the
Singapore training will be held from Dec. 4-15.
A Facebook post, by
the Singapore defense minister Ng Eng Hen emphasized the need for Asean member
states to work together to fight terrorism.
“If extremists gain a
foothold in any country around us, they will launch attacks against all ASEAN
cities – that is the key lesson in dealing with Al Qaeda and ISIS. These groups
can be defeated, but we will be stronger and that much more effective if we do
it together,” he said.
The forty Filipino elite troops will be trained at the Murai
Urban Training facility.
This professional exchange is mutually beneficial to SAF
soldiers who would also be able to learn from their counter-terrorism fight in
Marawi,” Ng said.
The Marawi crisis started last May 23, when government
forces tried to serve the arrest warrant for the terrorist Isnilon Hapilon,
which was considered as the emir of the Islamic State in Southeast Asia. *
It took five months and a destroyed Marawi before the
threat of the ISIS was neutralized. It was only last October 23, that Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana declared the
termination of combat operations in Marawi City. A prior to that the Philippine
troops successfully killed Isnilon Hapilon and Omar Maute, the main leaders of
the terrorist group.report from PDI
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