PH soldiers undergoing urban warfare training in Singapore

FILE: Lt. Col. Ray Tiongson (Photo: Ray Tiongson/Twitter)

MANILA — Around 40 Filipino troops, some of them veterans of the five-month fighting in Marawi City, are now undergoing urban warfare training with their Singaporean military counterparts.

Lt. Col. Ray Tiongson, Army spokesperson, said the training started Monday and would end on December 15.

He added the training would concentrate on these topics:

-Train the trainers training;

-Subject matter expert exchanges on urban training facilities; and

-Subject matter expert exchanges on urban operations curriculum design.

“The trainings are two-fold, they are going to teach us but we are also sharing what we experienced and learned from Marawi campaign. Learning in this kind of environment, we will be able to enhance our capacity and capability,” Tiongson said.

The Army’s need for more urban warfare training was emphasized during the five-month campaign to neutralize the Maute-ISIS terrorists in Marawi City.

Troops tasked to fight the terrorists had difficulty in eliminating the lawless elements who hid in the city’s concrete and high-rise buildings and used those positions in sniping, setting up of booby traps and improvised mines against attacking soldiers.