About 350 US special operations troops will conduct with the Philippine military an open-ended mission to “disrupt and defeat” remnants of the Abu Sayyaf group beginning March, cable television reports said yesterday. “This will be a no-holds-barred effort,” one Pentagon official familiar with the planning told the Cable News Network (CNN). “This is not an exercise.” But Philippine officials strongly rejected the CNN report, with Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye, Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople and Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes leading the chorus, insisting that the planned joint RP-US “Balikatan 03-1” exercise would be conducted in the same way as last year. But if the comments of unnamed Pentagon officials to CNN are correct, it would mark the first time that US forces would assume an active offensive role in the Philippines. The first joint anti-terror military exercise between Manila and Washington specifically aimed at smashing Muslim rebels in Basilan was held last year. Full Story