Philippine soldiers in the southern Marawi city (Photo: AFP/VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – A five-day exercise simulating a hostage rescue and planeseizure held by Philippines and US forces to refocus their military alliance towards counter-terrorism finishedon September 26.
Theexercise, the first of its kind, involved about 1,200 people, includingsoldiers, airport police, hostage negotiators and civilians. They simulatedhijacking in which eight gunmen forced a plane to land at Clark airport north ofManila.
Philippine Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said thedrill was in line with President Rodrigo Duterte's wish to refocus the twocountries' 1951 mutual defence pact towards counter-terrorism and disasterrelief.
Italso served as an opportunity to assess the needs of the new securityenvironment in the Pacific region, the Philippine official added.
The Philippines and the US will review their jointmilitary activities when their military leaders meet in Hawaii on September 27.
Thetwo countries have launched various exercises to fight transnational crime,natural disasters and ensure marine security over the years.
The US provided 700 million USD to enhance security ofthe Philippines over more than 17 years. The latest drill washeld in the shadow of a US-backed military campaign to retake the Philippines'southern city of Marawi, which was occupied by pro-Islamic State gunmen morethan four months ago.
The last hijacking in the Philippines was in May 2000,when a passenger armed with a grenade and handgun tried in vain to force aManila-bound Philippine Airlines flight to return to the southern city ofDavao.-VNA
