MANILA, Philippines—The armies of the Philippines and Australia have been training together for urban warfare operations.
The Philippine-Australia Urban Operations and Combat Shooting Training started on Sept. 27 and will last until Nov. 19 at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija province and some areas in Mindanao, the Philippine Army said.
Participating troops are from the Philippine Army’s 1st Brigade Combat Team and Special Forces Regiment (Airborne) and Australian Defense Force.
Both armies have trained more closely after the Marawi siege, a five-month battle between soldiers and pro-ISIS militants in 2017.
Canberra helped during the Marawi siege in information-gathering with the deployment of surveillance planes.
Australia is the Philippines’ second largest partner in defense and security cooperation after the United States.