MANILA, Philippines (AP) – The top U.S. diplomat says the United States has been providing the Philippines with surveillance capabilities, training, information and aircraft to help it fight a monthslong siege of a southern city by pro-Islamic State group militants.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is in Manila for a regional gathering. He says the equipment includes a few Cessna aircraft and a few drones. He says they’ll help the Philippines battle “an enemy that fights in a way that most people have never had to deal with.”
But Tillerson says there’s no contradiction between U.S. assistance and concerns about human rights. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has been roundly criticized for a bloody way on illegal drugs that has killed thousands of suspects.
Tillerson is expected to meet later Monday with Duterte.