Group: US GIs fighting in Philippines

US troops, in possible violation of the Philippines' constitution, have taken part in combat operations against guerrillas linked to al-Qaida, an activist group said in a report on Jan. 15. The group Focus on the Global South, citing a number of US military writings, doctrines and eyewitness accounts to back its claim, said an independent investigation should be conducted to determine whether the alleged combat operations violated the Filipino constitution. The US Special Forces contingent has been deployed in the south since 2002, nearly a year after the Muslim extremist group Abu Sayyaf kidnapped three US citizens and 17 Filipinos from a resort. One of the US nationals was beheaded soon after the kidnapping and another was killed during a military rescue operation the following year. Herbert Docena, who wrote the report for the activist group that promotes human rights and fair trade, said US troops may also be violating the Philippine constitutional ban on the stationing of foreign military bases in the country since the they have not left the south since they arrived five years ago. The US military presence in this former US colony is a sensitive issue, heightened following the recent conviction of a US Marine on rape charges. Docena said eyewitnesses claim to have seen US troops near hostilities, operating military equipment, defusing land mines and performing other war-related activities. US troops also operate spy planes over areas of hostilities, including one unmanned aircraft that crashed last year, he said.