GI dies in non-combat incident in Philippines - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

GI dies in non-combat incident in Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — An American soldier who helped train Filipino troops battling al-Qaida-linked militants has died in a non-combat incident on violent southern Jolo island, U.S. and Philippine officials said Sunday.

U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Rebecca Thompson said the American died on Friday, but declined to identify the serviceman and his unit or provide details of his death pending notification of next of kin.

U.S. military officials were investigating his death, Thompson said.

A Philippine police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media, said the American went missing while swimming with fellow soldiers in a lake in Jolo’s Panamao town, about 590 miles south of Manila.

His body was found Saturday, he said.

American military instructors, intelligence personnel and engineers have been providing combat training, weapons and intelligence help to local troops in the country’s restive south since 2002. They have also participated in rural civic projects, including medical missions and road and school repairs.

They are barred by the Philippine Constitution from engaging in local combat. Their non-combat assistance has nevertheless been credited with helping the underfunded Philippine military inflict setbacks on the Abu Sayyaf, a radical group blamed for high-profile kidnappings, beheadings and bomb attacks.

In February, a Marine, Cpl. Timothy Lewis, died of a heart attack shortly after arriving on Jolo from his unit’s base in Okinawa in southern Japan to take part in counterterrorism exercises.

Ten American soldiers also died in February 2002 when their MHE-47 Chinook helicopter crashed at sea north of southern Zamboanga city after ferrying U.S. Special Forces to nearby Basilan island for counterterrorism maneuvers. U.S. officials said it was unlikely hostile fire was involved.