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US, Philippines double troops for annual war games

Iran Press TV

Mon Apr 6, 2015 1:25PM

The United States military is doubling the number of troops it is sending to the Philippines to participate in the annual war games this month.

The US and the Philippines will deploy 6,656 and 5,023 soldiers respectively to take part in the 10-day war games to be held April 20 to 30.

This is more than twice the size of force, 2,500 Americans and 3,000 Filipinos, that participated in last year's Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) exercises.

The exercises, organized by the chief of the military command in charge of the West Philippine Sea, will be held as the Philippines is increasingly worried that China is seeking to take control of the strategically vital South China Sea.

Some military exercises will be staged close to a South China Sea flashpoint, the Filipino military said Monday.

Filipino military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Harold Cabunoc said the war games will be staged at several locations in the Philippines, including a naval station directly facing the disputed waters.

He said the decision to expand the scope of the exercises this year was not directed at China, which claims nearly all of the South China Sea.

'The higher strength of Balikatan 2015 for this year only reflects the Philippines and the United States' growing commitment to enhance our capability to conduct joint military and non-military activities,' Cabunoc told AFP.

The Balikatan exercises also come as the new military agreement between the two allies, the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), is pending with the Philippine Supreme Court over constitutionality issues.

EDCA allows the US to increase the so-called rotational presence of its troops and build military bases in areas of the Philippine armed forces.

In 2013, the Pentagon asked the Philippines for more access to the country's military bases for another twenty years as the two sides discussed a wider American military footprint in Asia.

HRJ/HRJ