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The Pentagon is considering a plan to launch air campaign against ISIS in the Philippines, the US media reported citing defense officials.
“The authority to strike ISIS targets as part of collective self-defense could be granted as part of an official military operation that may be named as early as Tuesday, said the officials. The strikes would likely be conducted by armed drones.
If approved, the U.S. military would be able to conduct strikes against ISIS targets in the Philippines that could be a threat to allies in the region, which would include the Philippine forces battling ISIS on the ground in the country’s southern islands,” NBC News’ report reads.
The US already has a ground presence in the area of Marawi where Philippine security forces are combating ISIS.
The group of the US Special Operations Forces joined the battle against ISIS in Marawi. The group is named the Joint Special Operations Task Force Trident and provides technical assistance.
According to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the US provides Philippine forces with “intelligence capabilities” in the ongoing fight against ISIS. This support includes “some recent transfers of a couple of Cessnas and a couple of UAVs (drones) to allow to them to have better information with which to conduct the fight down there.”
