US Provides Philippines With Weapons to Back Anti-Terror Efforts - Embassy

The United States delivered a batch of weapons and munitions to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in order to assist the troops of the Asian nation in the struggle against terrorist groups, the US embassy in the Philippines said in a statement on Saturday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the US diplomatic mission, Washington supplied Manila with 992 rockets and 1,040 rocket motors for the needs of the Philippine Air Force and would deliver 250 rocket-propelled grenade launchers and 1,000 grenade launchers in future.

"The munitions and weapons deliveries will enhance the AFP’s counterterrorism capabilities, and directly support AFP members actively engaged in counterterrorism operations in the southern Philippines, including [in the city of] Marawi," the statement said.

The statement added that the delivery of weapons took place within the framework of the Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA).

The Philippines has been hit by violent actions of terrorist groups for quite a long time. The violence escalated in May, when the group affiliated with Daesh, which is banned in Russia among other states, made an attempt to storm the city of Marawi.