Using U.S.-supplied military vehicles, troops of the Philippine army patrol the island of Jolo in the south of the country. In late August the government of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo reinforced the three regular infantry battalions on the island with scout ranger units and other troops. Until their withdrawal at the end of July, some 1,200 U.S. soldiers were stationed alongside the Philippine armed forces in the area, carrying out training exercises during the hunt for the Abu Sayyaf organization. Washington organized the intervention under the guise of rooting out "terrorists" in the south, where the Muslim religion predominates.  
 
 
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