US, Philippine soldiers in a joint drill (Source: AFP) Hanoi (VNA) - The US Embassy in Manila, the Philippines, announced on September 15 that the US will launch a joint anti-terrorism drill with the Philippines in the Southeast Asian country and Hawaii within September.
In a statement, the embassy said the “Tempest Wind” drill aims to test and improve the ability of both nations to rapidly plan, coordinate, and conduct counterterrorism operations.
The two countries approved the drill in November 2016.
In the past decades, the Philippines has been one of the most important allies of the US in Asia, but the ties were shaken after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he did not trust Washington and warned of an end in joint drills and bilateral agreements.
In the past, the two sides held three large-scale joint drills every year as a tradition, namely Balikatan, CARAT and PHIBLEX, along with 28 smaller ones. Last year, they agreed to reduce the scale and frequency of the drills as well as the number of participating US soldiers.-VNA
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