More than 600 US troops in an anti-terror operation in the Philippines want an equal number of reinforcements to deal with the non-combat aspects of the military campaign, a Filipino general said.
President Gloria Arroyo's government is studying the American government's request, Filipino military spokesman Brigadier General Edilberto Adan told reporters Sunday.
Some 660 US troops are deployed in the Philippines as part of Washington's global campaign against terrorism. Ten were killed in a helicopter crash in waters off the central Philippines last month.
The US contingent includes 160 Special Forces troops engaged in an advisory role on the island of Basilan, where about 5,000 Filipino troops are hunting an estimated 300 Abu Sayyaf Muslim guerrillas with links to the al-Qaeda terror network.
The rest of the Americans are based in this southern city, as well as in the central city of Cebu, where they fly surveillance and logistics missions in a joint operation scheduled to last until June.
"In principle, they (Americans) want a civil affairs component, which means construction of various engineering projects like roads and bridges," Adan said.
"These will require additional personnel, but not special forces. They have seen the need for a civil affairs component for solving the problems in Basilan, which could be answered by engineering and other types of work," he added.
Seven in 10 of the 350,000 mainly Muslim residents of Basilan, a jungle-backed volcanic island the size of Los Angeles, live on less than 75 US cents a day, according to government statistics.
The Americans would need "at least a battalion," the general said. A battalion comprises around 800 to 1000 soldiers.
He said that if Manila agreed to more deployments, it would have to be under another military exercise because the terms of reference of the ongoing campaign against the Abu Sayyaf sets limits on the number of US participants.
"It's not even on the drawing board. We are trying to determine how to go about it, what are the options to meet the objective of undertaking development projects," he said. "It's still being studied."
Meanwhile, Filipino troops on Basilan clashed with an Abu Sayyaf unit at dawn Sunday, leaving one soldier wounded, the military said.
No US Special Forces troops were involved in the fighting near the town of Tipo-Tipo, Captain Noel Detoyato told reporters.
He said the guerrillas involved in the fighting were not from the same faction holding two American Christian missionaries and a Filipina nurse hostage.
A Philippine military helicopter evacuated the wounded soldier while two other helicopter gunships attacked the rebel unit, he said.
The rebels were led by Amir Minkong, described by the military as an Abu Sayyaf leader, although the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) the largest Muslim separatist group in the Philippines say he is one of their own.
The MILF, which has over 1,000 troops in Basilan, has warned of possible confrontations if the Americans venture into their territory.
The MILF is currently observing a ceasefire with Manila, but the Philippines military said it would take action against the group if it attacked US troops.
Both Manila and Washington have said the 300-odd Abu Sayyaf rebel group in Basilan has ties to the al-Qaeda terror network of Osama bin Laden, the main suspect in the September 11 attacks in the United States.
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