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Commandos land in Philippine rebel island

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines -- U.S. Green Beret commandos have flown in to Basilan island in the southern Philippines where Philippine troops have been pursuing Muslim guerillas for over eight months.

Giant Chinook helicopters carried the elite strike force to a military base near Isabela, the capital of Basilan.

An advance party of around 25 U.S. troops had already arrived on the island to prepare the way for the special forces soldiers. Around 500 other U.S. troops will be stationed in nearby Zamboanga and the more central city island of Cebu.

It is the most significant expansion of the war on terror since the Afghanistan campaign..

The soldiers are officially on a six-month training mission with the Philippine military on the southern island of Basilan, about 900km (560 miles) south of Manila, where the Abu Sayyaf militant group is based.

Explosions

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U.S. Special Forces arrive on the Philippine island of Basilan to help Filipinos combat rebel guerrillas. CNN's Maria Ressa reports.

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The southern Philippines is dotted with Muslim guerrilla and bandit groups.

On Saturday, two separate explosions, one in Zamboanga and another on the nearby island of Jolo, left at least five people dead and dozens wounded.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack and investigations are continuing. Philippine officials however have not ruled out that the Abu Sayyaf was behind the attack in an attempt to divert attention from the joint military exercise.

Despite the training role, the Americans forces are prepared for action and casualties, a senior U.S. diplomat said.

"There is the possibility of hostile contact but I would personally rate that as a possibility and not a probability," Charge d'Affaires Robert Fitts said.

There has been much debate in the Philippines about the exact role and capacity the U.S. forces will take in the war games, designed to assist Filipino soldiers in its long-running campaign against the Abu Sayyaf -- a group that has been linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist network.

Go-ahead

The go-ahead for the deployment was effectively given after the controversial terms of reference (TOR) guiding the military exercises were signed by both sides last week.

There are about 6,000 Filipino troops on Basilan battling the Abu Sayyaf who are estimated to number from 100 to several hundred. The group is still holding three hostages -- an American couple and a Filipina nurse – held captive for the past eight months.

Skirmishes, ambushes and close quarter combat between the guerrillas and Philippine forces in Basilan's dense jungle occur on an almost daily basis.

Such combat conditions have heightened Washington's preparedness for casualties, Fitts said.

"I don't say that lightly, I don't mean we are callous about it [but] we understand the implications of coming in," he said.

"We are not going to just turn around and abandon this exercise if there is an unfortunate incident."



 
 
 
 





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