Australia supports the counter-terrorism and provides all needed support for the Philippines. On Tuesday, the defence secretary Lorenzana announced that a battle for Marawi ended on Monday.
Australia made the expansion of its security support to the Philippines, that will involve training in urban counter-terrorism, to fight the spread of Islamist militancy in the region. The fighting between government troops and ISIS-inspired terrorists was the bloodiest urban war in Philippine history.
Australia assisted the Philippines in the Marawi crisis by sending its surveillance planes for intelligence gathering. According to Defense Secretary, the end of the five-month-long siege in Marawi was officially terminated on October 23, 2017.
“Now that the Secretary of National Defense Lorenzana has declared the end of combat operations in Marawi, we will continue to consult closely with the Philippines on the future need for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support,”
Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne said.
During the Marawi events, 920 militants, 165 troops and police and at least 45 civilians were killed in the conflict, which displaced more than 300,000 people. That is why any nation must learn from the armed conflict, for the Philippines, and Marawi page will be the saddest page in the country’s history.
Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne, adding Canberra and Manila will host a post-conflict seminar to learn from the five-month Marawi conflict.
As Mr Payne noticed in his address, the practical skills from the ADF instructors will help the Philippine colleagues to counter the brutal tactics being employed by terrorists. In his statement at the defence ministers joint conference, the Philippine top official added that his country and Australia are now reviewing the deployment of surveillance planes, which flew four times a week over Marawi since late June.
