Manila - US soldiers are backing the Philippine military's offensive against Muslim rebels in the south but the Americans are not directly involved in combat operations, the country's armed forces chief said Friday. General Alexander Yano belied claims by government critics that hundreds of US soldiers stationed in the southern region of Mindanao were engaged in combat operations against Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas.
"There is no direct participation," he said. "They [the US troops] may be involved in combat-related activities, but these are not combat in itself."
Yano said the US troops, who have been stationed in Mindanao since 2002 for joint military exercises, help Filipino troops in providing supplies, maintenance of equipment, medical and casualty evacuation, and humanitarian efforts.
Yano said the military offensive in Mindanao would continue until MILF commanders Ameril Umbra Kato and Abdullah Macaapar, who led a series of deadly attacks in August, are captured and their forces neutralized.
More than 200 people, including nearly 70 civilians, have been killed and more than 500,000 displaced in the fighting in Mindanao.
The hostilities erupted when the Supreme Court stopped the signing of an agreement that would have expanded an existing autonomous Muslim region in Mindanao.
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has dissolved the government peace panel negotiating with the MILF and said she would not resume negotiations with the 12,000-strong rebel group until the two commanders have been brought to justice.
