Ties already strained by President Rodrigo Duterte’s insults and controversial drug war which has killed thousands of people

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The US state department halted the planned sale of 26,000 assault rifles to the Philippines’ national police amid concerns about human rights violations there, Senate aides told Reuters on Monday.

Aides said Senator Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate foreign relations committee, said he would oppose the transaction with the long-time ally of the US.

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The relationship between the two countries has been complicated lately by President Rodrigo Duterte’s angry reaction to Washington’s criticism of his violent and controversial war on drugs.

Duterte said last month that innocent people and children were “collateral damage” in his war on drugs because police use automatic weapons when confronting criminals.

In an interview with al-Jazeera he gave a hypothetical example of an officer using an M16 rifle when dealing with a “gangster” who wields a pistol. “When they meet, they exchange fire. With the policeman and the M16, it’s one burst, brrr, and [he] hits 1,000 people there and they die.”

More than 2,300 people have been killed in police operations or by suspected vigilantes in connection with the anti-narcotics campaign since Duterte took office on 30 June.

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The US state department informs Congress when international weapons sales are in progress. Aides said foreign relations committee staff informed the department that Cardin would oppose the deal during the department’s pre-notification process for the sale of 26,000-27,000 assault rifles, stopping the deal.

State department officials did not comment.

Earlier this month, Duterte told President Barack Obama to “go to hell” and said the US had refused to sell some weapons to his country, but he did not care because Russia and China were willing suppliers.

According to some US officials, Washington has been doing its best to ignore Duterte’s rhetoric and not provide him with a pretext for more outbursts.

An open break with Manila could create problems for the US in a region where China’s influence has grown.