Australia has offered to help train the Philippine military in its fight against Islamist extremists, according to the foreign minister, Julie Bishop.
Bishop said on Tuesday she had offered the Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, the same assistance that Australia was providing Iraq in its battle against Islamic State, which is looking to expand into the southern Philippines.
Australia has already sent two surveillance planes to help the Philippines in the Mindanao region, where Isis-linked rebels launched attacks in May.
Bishop said she had outlined the offer to Duterte but he had not yet responded.
“It is a very dangerous fight but Australia has already offered – and is supplying – support to the Philippines and we stand ready to assist should they require more,” she told reporters in Canberra.
“Obviously, we would be ready to support the Philippines in the same way we are supporting Iraq in advising, assisting and training, as the armed forces [in] Philippines are in the process of engaging in a pretty brutal fight with Isis.”
The United States, Malaysia and Indonesia had also made offers to help, Bishop said.
In June, five decapitated civilians were found in the rebel-occupied Marawi City. More than 100 security personnel, rebels and civilians were killed in the first three weeks of the conflict.