MANILA, Philippines — U.S. special forces are helping Philippine troops fight Islamic militants in the southern city of Marawi, the U.S. Embassy in Manila said.
The assistance was offered at the request of the Philippine government, according to an emailed statement that didn’t give details of the support. Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesman, Ernesto Abella, didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The request for U.S. assistance came eight months after Duterte suggested he would end joint military drills with the U.S., after President Barack Obama’s criticism of the extrajudicial killing of thousands of people in the war on drugs that human rights advocates say has disproportionately targeted the urban poor.
President Donald Trump, on the other hand, has refrained from criticizing Duterte and invited him to the White House when the two leaders spoke by phone in April. Trump more recently was reported to have praised Duterte’s efforts in the war on drugs.
Officials at a regional security conference in Singapore last week voiced concern over the rising threat from Islamic fighters in Southeast Asia, home to about 15 percent of the world’s 1.57 billion Muslims. U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis sought to reassure allies in the region, highlighting U.S. efforts to improve information sharing and to train Philippine counterterrorism forces fighting in the south.
Duterte has pledged “harsh” actions against Islamic militants, especially in poorer southern provinces. As many as 400 foreign fighters are believed to be operating in the Philippines, according to Philippine Undersecretary for Defense Ricardo David.
Meanwhile, Col. Edgard Arevalo, chief of public affairs of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said 13 soldiers died and 40 were wounded in a 14-hour battle with Islamic militants in one of the villages in Marawi City, in the southern island of Mindanao.
Philippine troops have been fighting the Maute group, which claims allegiance to Islamic State, in Marawi for more than two weeks. Mindanao was put under martial law to prevent the violence