Duterte offers Philippine troops to Jordan to fight Islamist militants

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has offered to send troops to Jordan to help combat Islamist militants. He also agreed to deepen military cooperation with the Middle Eastern nation to fight extremism. Both countries have been battling Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS), with Jordan playing a key role in an international coalition, and the Philippines on alert after a five-month occupation of a city by Islamist rebels. “If there is anything that we can do, if you are short in your army, let me know,” Duterte said on Thursday at a business forum in Amman in a comment to King Abdullah, Reuters reports. “You need one battalion… I will send them to you. I will commit my government in the right side of history.”